Free
by Ryuchu
Summary: Two radically different people. Two radically different concepts of freedom. Two people brought together by the violent twists of fate. Where will these unexpected and unintended confrontations lead? COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

A sea of stars. Skyscrapers that seemed so tiny compared to the vast amount of stars that confronted them. Soft looking leaves that blew lazily in a breeze from nowhere. The moon, always full, shined down on a small cubicle of life. It was almost like looking through a fish tank full of the universe. A young woman lazily ran her hand across the glass pane that separated her from the universe outside her window. She has long ago lost interest in the scenery. It has not changed in the many years that she has been confined to this small corner of the world.

She stopped as she reached the corner of her confinement that she had seen so many times. When she was younger, she would often spend days hunting this corner and the others in the room for any means of escape. Even now, she could still see the slight scratch marks that had been made on the glass like substance due to her desperate attempt to flee her cell of tranquility. But as she grew older, she came to accept her fate.

"Besides…" she whispered to the air, "in here I am truly 'free'".

She turned from the wall to look at the barren area that had become her life over the past years. It was a small place surrounded on all sides by glass walls that seemed to give distorted visions of the universe. Other than the girl herself, nothing was in the room. Her empty blue eyes seemed to radiate an unnatural light and her long pink hair fell around her and brushed the ground as she once again looked around the room for…something.

She silently stopped her surveying apparently unable to find what she was looking for and let her hand drop from the wall. She felt her hand unwillingly move toward the headphones that rested over her ears. They were the only reminder she had of her time before she began to live her life in this cubicle of the world. She knew that there are memories attached to them, but she has buried anything that may lead her to thinking of the past outside of her safe haven. It's much less painful that way.

She felt her fingers brush up against an engraving in the headphones. Her fingers lingered there and began to trace out the letters.

"L-U-K-A…" she said aloud as her fingers brushed each letter, "my name…"

Ping! Luka turned and looked as she heard a sound that was all too familiar. Just as expected, the room that was once barren now contained a modest amount of food for her dinner. She shuffled over to the food and looked at what she had been offered for dinner. She gave a small smile as she looked down at the tuna filet and rice that had been prepared for her. Over the years, whoever was serving her food had learned her likes and dislikes.

As she silently ate her dinner, Luka felt her mind begin to drift to her current state of living. For as long as she cared to remember, she had lived in this small room. She was never in need of anything, for it seemed that whenever she was tired or hungry or needed new clothes, the room provided for her. It was truly mysterious and at one point Luka had been determined to unravel its mysteries, but the novelty of the room had passed and she now just accepted it as part of her life.

Luka tugged at the black and white dress she was wearing now and looked down at herself. She was no longer the child she once was. She couldn't say exactly how many years had passed since she first came to the room, but it must have been quite some time ago. When she had first arrived in the room she had been only 6 years old.

_I must be at least 20,_ Luka silently estimated to herself.

Luka set her bowl back down upon the floor and walked over to look at the unchanging scenery yet again. She felt her eyes drifting over to the city of skyscrapers that hung inexplicably in the sky. Her eyes settled on the only visible billboard she could see in the city. She read what was printed there as she had done many times in the past.

FREEDOM

"Freedom…" Luka repeated back to the sign.

The word had a strange taste in her mouth. It felt both familiar and completely foreign to say the word. She had often wonder what exactly "freedom" was and how one was able to obtain it. When she had first come to the room, the word freedom had meant nothing to her. She wasn't too sure that it meant something to her now.

"This is paradise Luka. This is freedom"

The phrase flashed through Luka's head and then left just as quickly as it had come. For a split second, Luka's face contorted into a puzzled from, yet she instantly returned to her emotionless stare.

"That phrase was something from a long time ago…" she said aloud with a slight shake in her voice, "someone who I loved and trusted told me that…"

Luka looked around at the empty room illuminated by artificial pink light and the display of the galaxy that had become her life over the many years spent in solitude. Nothing in this little world had changed in the past 14 years. Yet, this was it…wasn't it?

"This…is my freedom?"


	2. Chapter 2

BOOM!

A young boy ducked his head as an artillery shell landed nearby. He felt clods of dirt thrown up by the impact pelt his back. He swore under his breath as he attempted to lower himself closer to the ground. The shots were getting closer and closer. He had to move again, and fast. He set his feet as he prepared to run again.

"Len," he heard a voice say at his side, "their getting closer…aren't they." It wasn't a question. It was a statement of fact.

Len looked at his twin sister Rin and saw her look of resolute determination tinged with slight worry. He gave a strained smile and tried to make his voice sound more assured than he felt, "Yeah, but if we keep moving we should be able to lose them."

Rin just gave a slight nod of her head and set her feet to run just as Len had. She pulled the hood of her long brown cloak over her head and turned to look in the direction that she was prepared to run. Len also pulled up his hood and turned from Rin as he silently took her hand. Her hand felt tiny and lost in his own. He tightened his grip and the two crouched lower in preparation to run once again.

Almost as though the two shared a silent signal, they both dashed from their hiding place and ran across another stretch of exposed land. Almost immediately bullets began to rain about them with renewed furry. Len could hear shouts, but he quickly blocked his ears from the distractions around him. They had to get to the next safe place.

As they ran, Len spotted what he was looking for, a dried riverbed that eventually led to a small underground cavern that was almost impossible to spot to those who didn't know it was there. He adjusted himself slightly and made a dash for a place in the riverbed that was slightly hidden. He held Rin's hand tightly, determined not to lose his sister in the mad haze of his running.

The pair skidded to a halt and noiselessly dropped into the riverbed and pressed themselves as low to the ground as they could. The sound of footsteps thundered over them and the occasional sound of shots being fired rang through the air. The pair tensed as they heard a singular pair of footsteps draw closer to their hiding place. Len looked over at his sister as she looked at him grimly and pulled a small pistol from the holster on her hip. Len nodded and pulled out his own pistol.

Yet the footsteps didn't grow any closer and the two eventually heard the shots stop and the soldiers retreating. Not yet daring to speak, Len and Rin crawled through the riverbed until they reached the underground cavern. The two sat in silence for awhile, each reveling in the fact that they were still alive.

Rin was the first one to break the silence, "Do you think we'll be able to make it all the way across?" She whispered in a voice tinged with hope.

Len gave a slight smile, "It's definitely possible. I mean, we've made it past the first part of the border patrol, that's got to mean something."

"Yeah…" Rin said, allowing hope to slowly creep into her voice, "I wonder what it's going to be like on the other side of the border."

Len couldn't honestly answer her. For his whole life he, his family and all the people of the country they lived in had been kept in their country by force. No one would explain to him why they were never allowed to leave or what it was like outside their small desert country. It could be anything out there.

"It must be something pretty amazing if their trying so hard to keep us away from it." Len said aloud. His sister gave a slight smile and nodded.

Len thought for a moment about how crazy this whole idea seemed. They were crossing the border in order to find a better life when they had no idea what could possibly be out there. Many of their friends had attempted crossing the border; none had returned. Everyone tried to stay optimistic and kept insisting that they must have reached the other side and found happiness. No one spoke of the very realistic possibility that they were simply lying dead somewhere.

Len and Rin had never really considered the possibility of running away from their country. They were both only 14 and they still had a lot to explore before they began dreaming about life beyond their restrictions. Yet, all that changed when their parents died in a bombing over a year ago. They had been planning on escaping the border with their children. The government had found out and promptly made them disappear, as they had done many times before to those they found planning to escape.

After Len found out, he became obsessed with the idea of escaping. He wanted to get away from everything that reminded him of his current life. He wanted something new and different. He wanted his freedom.

"That's right…and that's exactly what I'm going to find!" He whispered under his breath to himself.

"Len…are you talking to yourself again?" Rin asked her brother, "I hope we haven't come this far just for you to go crazy on me."

"Sheesh Rin! I'm just talking to myself, leave me alone! Anyways, it's time to get moving again. It's dark enough now that the soldiers won't see us and they most likely aren't still looking for us." Len stood and headed toward the entrance of the cave.

Rin gave a slight mischievous smile and followed after her brother.

* * *

Both Rin and Len crouched low to the ground and stopped to listen again for the sound of pursuit. They had been traveling for about an hour and so far had encountered no trouble. Len was starting to get paranoid about their apparent lack of trouble, but Rin just kept brushing his concerns aside.

"They probably don't care about us," she would say each time Len mentioned it, "We are just two children after all." Len would reluctantly agree with her each time and they would continue on their silent and slow crawl through the night.

This pattern continued on for quite some time until Len came to a sudden halt. Rin pulled up short behind him and nearly bumped into his back.

"What are you doing!" She hissed through her teeth.

"Something's not right…" Len muttered, "It's too quiet, not even the animals aren't making noise…"

"That's very clever of you to notice boy, and I thought I would be able to track you to all the hiding places that you desert vermin use to escape."

Len spun around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice that filled the night air. He felt Rin tense at his side and turn also. Before where there had been nothing but night air, a young man stood confidently. He was dressed in the military clothing of a high ranking officer. His light blue hair blew lazily in the wind and his eyes of the same light blue gleamed with a silent and calculating malice.

"How the hell did you find us?" Len spat at him as he pulled out the gun that rested on his hip. He leveled it and pointed it at the young man who didn't even flinch.

He, instead, smiled.

"I have been following you since you started out on your quest to escape your country. If the parents were plotting, it's obvious that the children would also try to escape. But this time I thought I would use your idiocy to my advantage and find all the hiding places you people have been using. You were quite a help young man, for that I thank you."

The young man gave a haughty bow and Len felt his finger tighten on the trigger. The young man stood again and gave a calm smile almost as if he was mocking Len and his determination. Len gritted his teeth and met the young man's eyes.

"Don't do anything stupid, or you might find that you'll have a new hole in your head, bastard…"

"Oh, you wouldn't do that. You care for your sister don't you?"

"Rin!" Len yelled as he turned to look at his sister.

She was crying…

And holding the muzzle of her gun to Len's head.


	3. Chapter 3

"R…Rin?" Len whispered as he faced his sister and the gun she had pointed to his head.

"I'm sorry Len. I had to deceive you so that I could get out of this country. There was no way that we could get out together, so I took the logical choice and made a deal with Lord Kaito. If I allowed him to track us, he promised me my freedom…my freedom with him."

Rin's tears had all dried and there was a small smile on her face. When she mentioned Kaito, she looked at the young officer and a slight pink showed on her cheeks. Her hand slowly stopped shaking as her resolve in her decision grew and she steadied her gun.

Len felt his fist clench tighter on his gun and he ground his teeth. He had been betrayed by his own sister. She was a rat.

"Damn you Rin…" he spat as he met her eyes. He felt himself cringe slightly inside as he found the same expression that the military general Kaito wore reflected in Rin's eyes.

Rin's expression remained unchanged as she kept her gun fixed on Len. "Now, don't do anything stupid brother. If you just agree to show Lord Kaito all the hiding places he will surely let you live. You can have the freedom to live your life in our country. You should be grateful that you even have this option to live."

"That's not freedom at all Rin. That's just a twisted form of imprisonment that you are forcing upon yourself. You are being stupid and blind." Len said with a voice that was flat and dead.

Anger flared in Rin's face. She was not happy to be questioned. Her grip tightened on her gun and her voice lowered to a growl, "You better shut up if you know what's good for you…"

At this point, the young military general who had been silently watching this exchange silently shifted his feet and started walking toward Rin. Len's attention was drawn away from his sister for a second as he followed Kaito's movements with his gun. Kaito eventually came behind Rin and lightly laid his hands on her shoulders. Len saw his sister shiver and her eyes grow slightly in excitement.

"Lord Kaito…" she whispered under her breath.

Kaito's hand slipped down so they rested lower on Rin's arms and he leaned down next to her ear, "You don't know where the hiding places are do you? Your brother was the one who planned the whole escape, correct?"

"Y…yes Lord Kaito," Rin said, her voice low, "That's why I told you not to kill him and let him lead you to all the hiding places. I was useful, wasn't I?"

Len felt disgust bubble up in his stomach as he heard the devoted hopefulness in his sister's voice. It was disgusting how she was relying on this man to get her way through life. Len hated people who couldn't stand on their own two feet and instead relied on everyone else. He would never become like that.

"Yes my dear Rin," The young man hissed in her ear, "so very useful…"

"Of course Lord Kaito!" The young woman exclaimed as her face flushed pink at the compliment, "I want to continue to be useful to you. I want to be with you forever. Lord Kaito…I lo-"

Rin's declaration was cut off as a knife ripped through her stomach. Her eyes registered shock as she looked down at the blade that pierced her mid-section. She slowly turned and looked at the man behind her. Her eyes were filled with tears.

"L…lord Kaito…?" she managed to whisper as she met the man's eyes.

A sinister smile filled his face as he pulled the blade from Rin's stomach. He sheathed the small blade as Rin fell to the ground clutching her stomach.

"Yes sweet Rin, you WERE useful, but that is a thing of the past. I have your brother now in our custody; there is no use for you anymore."

As Kaito spoke, tears flowed freely down Rin's face as blood continued to pour from the wound in her stomach. She slowly turned toward Len and used the last of her energy to reach out her hand toward her brother.

"Broth…er…please…help…me…" she managed to whisper in a weak voice.

Len felt his whole body shake uncontrollably. He couldn't tell if it was horror at what had happened and how his sister looked, or rage at what Kaito had done. Len looked at his sister. She was quickly losing consciousness and the light was fading from her eyes. Her skin was pale and her body was weakly shaking. She looked nothing like the active sister that Len had always known.

She was dying.

"Please…Len…" Rin repeated again in a voice even weaker than before.

Len once again looked at his sister and felt his heart beat faster in his chest. He had a choice to make. A choice that could change everything forever.

His mind raced; he felt his heart drop in his chest. When faced with the choice of the world he knew exactly what he had to do. He silently met his sister's eyes…

And he ran.

* * *

Luka awoke to a strange sound buzzing in her ears. It wasn't an unpleasant sound, in fact, Luka found it to be quite calming. But there was something wrong with the sound.

It was something different. Something that had never happened once in the past 14 years.

Luka sat upright in the bed that she was currently lying on and quickly scanned the room. Nothing seemed to be different. The pink lights on the wall had been dimmed to simulate night, but it made it quite difficult for Luka to see what was going on.

Almost as if the room heard her desires, the pink lights began to brighten again and Luka was met with the same room as always. Nothing had changed.

Luka sighed and looked silently at her hands.

"Why am I sighing?" She said aloud to no one in particular, "Was I wishing for something to be different? But I have paradise here…why would I want that to change?"

Luka continued to stare at her hands and muse over this point. It was true that she had been told that her freedom could be found in this room, but what exactly did "freedom" mean?

"Freedom is…Being able to dance."

The phrase flashed through Luka's mind and she silently grasped at her head as a jolt of pain rocked her body. It was the same voice from before. Whose was it and why was it haunting her?

_Freedom is being able to…dance?_ She thought to herself after the pain had subsided. It was a word that meant nothing to her, but for some reason the word made her happy.

"Dance…" she said trying the word out on her tongue. It had a bubbly feeling. "Dance…" she said again as a small smile lit her lips.

_I like that word_ she decided instantly, _But I wonder what it means…_

Luka's thoughts we're interrupted once again by the humming sound that she had heard before, but this time it was louder. Luka stood up from her bed and scanned the room once more. There had to be something different. This time something caught her eye.

In the corner of the room there was a small light. It pulsed quietly and was the souce of the warm humming sound. Luka quickly hurried to look at this light; this unplanned intruder in her world of perfect solitude.

* * *

Len ran and ran into the night. The barren landscape flew past, but he ignored everything but the ground directly in front of him. He could no longer hear the sounds of pursuit that had been hounding him for the past couple of hours but he couldn't stop running. If he stopped he would have time to think.

Len felt his eyes begin to fill with tears for the first time that night. The vision of his sister desperately reaching out to him, her last hope in the world, continued to haunt him. The look of horror that had flashed in her eyes when she realized what Len was doing just before he turned and ran…the nightmare continued to play over and over in his mind.

_Stop thinking about it dammit!_ Len mentally scolded himself, _It won't do you any damn good to keep thinking about it. Besides at this point, she's most likely already…_

Len violently shook his head. He wouldn't think about her. He had to escape. He had to have a chance for the freedom that he always dreamed of and the freedom that Rin had traded away.

Len was so lost in his thoughts that he wasn't watching his footing and he felt his feet fly from underneath him. He slammed to the ground and he felt pain surge through his body. He attempted to raise himself from the ground but found that he was more physically and emotionally exhausted then he first realized. Adrenaline had been keeping him going and in that moment, he felt all his energy drain away. He knew that he wouldn't be getting up from the ground.

It was then that Len began to sob uncontrollably. It was so much in such a short time. Len's entire world had been shattered in one night and there would be no chance to return to his peaceful and precious life.

_That's all gone now…_ Len thought as his consciousness began to fade.

* * *

Luka put her face so close to the bright light that he nose lightly brush the fuzzy corners of the light source in the corner of her world. The light was small and non-threatening, but Luka wasn't sure what it meant. She had never seen anything like it before.

She silently reached out her hand to touch the warm light. The instant her fingers brushed the light it began to expand and grow brighter. The light quickly encompassed Luka's entire body. Luka pulled her hands back to shield her eyes from the unbearable brightness.

Before Luka eyes recovered from the blinding light, she sensed that something was wrong. Something had changed in the room. It wasn't unpleasant; it felt like something from a dream.

_I smell something…it smells like…something from my childhood_ Luka thought as her eyes slowly began to recover.

When Luka could finally see again, her eyes spread in surprise. Where the light had previously been lay a young man. He was face down and his messy blonde hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. He was wearing a tattered cloak that hung loosely around his body. He looked worn and tired.

Luka looked at the young boy and felt her heart race. It was another person! Someone besides just her in this world! She reached out a shaking hand to touch the phantom to make sure that it wasn't just an illusion. She drew closer and closer to the young man's face.

And then she touched solid flesh. He was real.

It was the first person that Luka had seen in the past fourteen years of her life. She felt her pulse quicken even further.

_Maybe he can answer all these questions I have_ Luka thought to herself as she continued to stare at the young boy to confirm that he was still there, _maybe I can finally find out why I'm alive in this small corner of the world._


	4. Chapter 4

The sound of bullets firing. Footsteps falling heavy above them. The stench of death all around him; it's suffocating.

He haphazardly reaches out a hand as he tries to find something in the pitch black besides the haunting memory of death. He feels hope catch in his throat she he grasps a warm hand that squeezes his hand in response to his searching. He has made that connection he's been looking for.

His feet quickly take him to be closer to this source of warmth. By this time his eyes have adjusted to the darkness as he attempts to call out to the person holding his hand. Yet his voice is silent and he still can't see the other person.

A blinding light sears his eyes as he quickly covers his eyes with his free hand. He blinks a few times to try to adjust his vision. When he can finally see again, he feels bile begin to rise at the back of his throat.

In his hand he holds the severed hand of his sister.

He quickly drops it as terror overtakes his mind. It falls to the ground with a soft thud and twitches lightly before it is still. He can do nothing but stare in horror.

"Len…why?"

That voice, he knows it. He slowly raises his eyes and to his horror he sees his sister lying on the ground. She is bleeding profusely from a wound in her stomach and her eyes are lifeless as she cries. She reaches out her arm toward Len and she continues to call to him desperately.

"Please Len, save me. I love you brother, you're my only hope. Save me."

He backs away a few steps in revulsion. That…thing that crawls in front of him is not his sister. His sister isn't the one slowly dying on the ground. His sister isn't the one that he can't save.

The specter that lies on the floor stops talking and begins to slowly raise itself from the ground. The boy feels his feet retreat a few steps further. Anything to escape the memory.

What was once Rin is now standing on its feet. Len feels his stomach churn as the creature begins to laugh. It is a high pitched laugh of a young girl. It is the laugh of his sister that is coming from this monster that isn't her.

BANG

The boy looks down as he feels pain rips through his chest. He's bleeding now, just like the other creature. He collapses to the ground to look at his assailant. Although he is losing consciousness fast, his survival instincts force him to struggle against his imminent fate.

Standing over him is his sister; not the creature that she became, but his sister as she was when they were children. Her large blue eyes look at him innocently as she jams the gun in her hand into his forehead. He listens to the click of the gun being primed, but all he can see is his sister's large and innocent eyes.

"I'm not going to rely on anyone," Rin says in the innocent voice of a seven year old, "I'm going to stand on my own two feet. Because that's the only way to have freedom, right brother?"

BANG BANG BANG

* * *

Len opened his eyes with a start. He felt his heart beating like crazy in his chest as his mind kept recalling the dream he had just had. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and took a couple calming breaths before he sat up in the bed and looked around at his surroundings.

He was in his bedroom, the same as any morning. The weak light of the early morning sun streamed through one of the windows in the room. The smell of the nearby desert permeated every inch of the house. He could hear the sound of merchants getting ready for their day as they chatted with one another.

Everything was as it always was.

_It was just a dream, _He silently reassured himself, _nothing like that will ever happen so it's nothing to worry about. I'm just nervous about our escape because it's getting so close, that's all._

Len continued to sit in bed for a few minutes. For some reason he couldn't explain, he was just glad that everything was as mundane as ever.

_I'm probably still shaken from the dream…_

"Len! Are you going to just sleep in all day! I need you to help me set up the stall! Today a new caravan is scheduled to come in; it's going to be a good selling day!"

Len turned to look at the source of the voice. He saw Rin standing in the doorway frowning at him. In her hands she held several jars of medicinal herbs that Len presumed she was going to sell.

Normally he would grumble and complain about the work, but he felt so relieved to see his sister that he got out of bed without a word of complaint. He was rewarded with a smile from Rin.

"I'm glad to see that you're so willing to cooperate for the first time in your life," She said before she scurried past his bedroom, "Now hurry up and get dressed. You know I'm not strong enough to carry some of the really heavy pots by myself."

Len silently got dressed and watched as his sister passed his doorway a few more times. Each time she walked past she muttered quietly under her breath as she went about her task. What was usual such an average scene suddenly seemed surreal to Len.

"Not much longer."

Len felt himself stiffen at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. He turned to look at this unknown assailant that had entered his house.

But there was no one behind him.

He quickly scanned the rest of the room, but he found that he was alone.

"I must be hearing things…" He mumbled to himself.

"If you have time to talk to yourself, you have time to be useful," He heard his sister call from the doorway. Len gave a slight shrug of his shoulders as he dispelled the mysterious voice from his mind.

When he stepped out into the hallway he felt his sister crash into him and he heard the sickening sound of pottery shattering on the ground. He heard his sister swear under her breath as she looked angrily at him. Before he had a chance to get in a word, his sister ran off into the kitchen. A few moments later she reappeared with a broom in her hand that she quickly shoved in the direction of Len.

"Your job to clean up," She said as she smiled.

Len couldn't help but return the smile. Since they had been children, it had always been his responsibility to clean the house. Rin delighted in reminding him of it.

"Alright, I'll get right to it," Len said as he took the broom.

"…Are you sure that you're my brother?" Rin asked as she evaluated him, "You're being awfully cooperative."

"If you're going to give me grief then I'll just leave it in your hands," He said as he pushed the broom back in her direction.

"No way, that's your job," Rin said as she headed back toward the shed where the family stored their jars of herbs. Len watched her retreat a few steps before he reached out his hand and grabbed her wrist. He wasn't quite sure why he did it, but he just couldn't let her walk off.

"What is it with you today?" Rin asked as she turned around to look at him with a puzzled look on her face.

"Rin…how many days till we make our escape?" He asked as he searched her eyes. If she was truly Rin, she would know. He had to know if the memory of their escape, the memory of Rin's betrayal and death, was all just a dream.

"Escape? What in the world are you talking about?" Rin responded as she looked at him bewildered.

"Getting out of here; they killed our parents!" Len practically shouted as he grabbed Rin's shoulders.

_Why is she acting like nothing happened?_

"Len are you feeling alright? Our parents are only going to the capital for a week, that doesn't mean they're dead. Now stop spouting nonsense and finish sweeping so that you can help me lift the larger pots," Rin said as she removed Len's hands and headed back on her way.

Len could do nothing but stare at his sister's retreating back. Had it all been nothing more than a dream?

_That can't be right…. All of it was so real. There's no way all of that was a dream. It's impossible. _

Even though his mind was struggling against this conclusion, in his heart he wanted it to be true. He wanted it all to be some bizarre dream. He wanted to be able to go back to being the naïve little boy that was content with his small and safe part of the world.

He wanted his life to be free of worry once again.

As he began to sweep up the fragments of the shattered pots, he found himself more and more willing to accept the idea that it was all a dream. He felt the worry that had been filling his chest slowly begin to dissipate.

"Everything's just like it should be," Len mumbled to himself as he continued to clean, "I'm free to live my life however I want. I don't have to escape any more. I can just live in this world that has been given to me."

* * *

"Come and get some herbs! They'll care for any sickness! Any and all ills you have will be gone!"

"Rin!" Len said hastily as he forced his sister to sit down, "You can't say that; it's not true."

"Well they won't know that till long after their gone," Rin said with a devilish smile. Len just sighed as Rin stood up once again and resumed her yelling.

Len watched the people that bustled about the market. He saw many familiar faces mixed in with the foreign faces of the people from the recently arrived caravan. As he scanned the crowds, he found his eyes settling on one young woman.

She was a complete stranger to him, but he felt compelled to look at her as she walked uncertainly about the market. She would occasionally stop at a stall and talk with the shop owner before politely shaking her head and moving on. She was slowly moving closer to Rin and Len's stand…

"Hey Len!"  
Len thoughts were interrupted by his sister's voice. He looked away from the young woman to look at his sister. She was looking at him and smiling.

"Someone's distracted," She said as her smile spread.

"You're just imagining things Rin," Len said as he felt slight heat rush to his cheeks.

"Well, you think you can un-distract yourself long enough to watch the stand for a little bit? I have to go talk to someone…" Rin trailed off as she looked away.

Len nodded his head in response and watched as his sister walked off. He followed her with his eyes until he saw her duck around a corner.

_A secret meeting? Does Rin like one of the boys in the village?_ Len wondered to himself.

"Excuse me; are you the owner of this shop?"

Len turned at the unexpected sound of a woman's voice. She stood not far from him, her entire head covered to protect her from the harsh winds of the desert. The only thing he could see was her piercing blue eyes. They seemed to radiate with an unnatural light.

Suddenly, he realized that this was the woman that he had been unable to look away from all morning.

"Ah!" Len said quickly as he remembered himself, "Yes I am. How may I help you?"

"I've been to this store once before. Back then it was run by a young couple. The woman had just given birth to twins…" The woman trailed off as she seemed to lose herself in her world of memories. "It's been so long…so many years I've just been waiting and watching, but suddenly there is this place…" The woman mumbled on as she looked into the distance.

"You must mean my mother and father," Len said after a few moments of silence, "I'm sorry if you came to see them, but they're both visiting the capital right now."

The woman quickly turned to look at him as she was snapped from her musings and her eyes softened. Len could tell that she was smiling underneath her head covering.

"I'm actually here to see their children," She told him.

"Well if you're actually talking about my parents, then I'm one of their children. My sister went off somewhere…" Len said as he craned his neck to look in the direction his sister had gone. He turned once more to look at the woman, "If you want to wait, she should be back soon."

Her eyes had lost their warmth as she stared intently at Len's face. He couldn't stop himself from squirming under her unnatural gaze as she continued to evaluate him. He suddenly felt the woman lay a hand upon his should.

"So you're Len then?" She asked as she searched his eyes.

"Yes," Len responded slowly.

The woman quickly retracted her hand and looked at Len sadly. She grabbed a small bundle of herbs and produced a coin that she pushed into Len's palm.

"I'm sorry. If I'm seeing you now then that means that you've already had to face so many horrors and this is the last thing I can do for you. When you leave, please don't hate her," The woman said quietly as she averted her gaze from Len.

Without another word, the woman headed off. Len watched her until she disappeared into the bustle of the crowd. Only then did he remember the coin that was in his hand. He looked down at it but it gave away no answers about its previous owner.

"What was that all about?" Len muttered to himself as he turned the coin over in his hand.

* * *

"Mmmm, I am so done for the day!" Rin said loudly as she stretched her arms above her head. Len sighed at her display as he lowered the awning on their stall.

"What was the sigh about?" Rin asked as she glared over at her brother.

"Oh nothing, just that if I remember correctly you were gone for most of the day in your 'talking with someone' and I was left to run the stall."

Len watched as Rin's cheeks turned a light pink as she quickly looked at the ground.

"So is it Mikuo?" Len asked her as he grinned slightly.

"Mikuo!" Rin echoed in a voice laced with horror, "Of course not!"

"Ted? Meito? Gakupo?"

"Ew. Ew. Ew." Rin responded in turn to each name.

"Well that's all the people I can think of…unless you were meeting with someone from the caravan."

Rin turned around and crossed her arms as she headed back towards the house, "That's none of your business. Now hurry up and finish cleaning up the stall so that we can have dinner."

Len sighed once again, but he complied with her wishes. As he began carrying the herbs they hadn't managed to sell, he found his mind once again wandering to his encounter with the young woman earlier that day.

_It's not like I know her from anywhere…_ He thought to himself _but there was something familiar about her. And what exactly did she mean 'please don't hate her'? Who in the world was she talking about?_

His mind continued to wander as time passed and night began to fall. He heard his stomach give a low grumble of hunger as he finished placing the last herb pot in the storage house. When he went to find his sister in the kitchen, she was busy stirring a pot of soup, but she turned around as she heard Len enter the room.

"That was fast," She said before she turned back around to tend her soup, "Did you actually clean everything up?"

"Of course I did," Len responded as he sat down. Rin kept her back to him as she continued to stir the soup.

After a few moments of silence, Len spoke up. "Hey Rin, did you see that woman with the caravan? She had these really eerie blue eyes and the rest of her face was covered."

"There were no women in that caravan," Rin answered simply.

"What are you talking about?" Len asked bewildered, "The person that came to our stall was definitely a woman and I would have remembered her if I saw her around town."

"You must have been mistaken," Rin said as she turned around with two bowls of soup in her hands. She set one in front of Len and sat across the table from him, "It was a military caravan and women aren't allowed in the military."

Len stared at Rin, but she was no longer looking at him as she greedily ate the soup she had just prepared. Len looked down at his own soup, but he found that he was no longer hungry.

_It was a military caravan? How did Rin know that? And then there's the person that she was meeting with…if it wasn't anyone from the village, then…_

_"Of course Lord Kaito! I want to continue to be useful to you. I want to be with you forever."_

"You know," Rin managed between one spoonful and the next, "You really should go to bed early. You've been talking about weird things all day. First you were talking about escaping, then you were talking about mom and dad dying and now you're talking about some random woman that couldn't have possibly been there.

Len just gave a slight nod of his head, but he continued to sit where he was as he looked up at his sister that sat across from him. She looked the same as she always did; short blonde hair windblown by the desert, a large bow that bobbed slightly with her movements, large blue eyes that shown with an energetic light. But there was just something…off.

"Rin," he said quietly.

"Hm?" She replied as she raised her eyes.

"Were you meeting with Kaito?"

Len watched as Rin's eyes spread in shock. She quickly dropped her spoon back in her soup bowl as she looked at Len horrified.

"Wh-What in the world are you talking about?" She asked nervously.

"Were you meeting with Kaito?" Len asked again as his voice raised slightly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Rin answered defensively.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" Len shouted as he stood up from the table. He knew that he was losing his composure, but in that moment it didn't matter. He needed answers and he knew that Rin had them.

"You're meeting with a military general by the name of Kaito," Len said slowly as he carefully watched his sister's face, "I'm not exactly sure what you hope to accomplish with selling me out, but it won't work."

Rin gave no response as she quickly looked towards the ground.

"So it wasn't all a dream. You actually are planning on selling me out to this guy," Len spat out at her.

"That's not it at all…" Rin responded quietly.

"'Not it at all?'" Len yelled back. He quickly closed the gap between the two of them and grabbed his sister's shoulder. "Then what exactly is it?" He yelled in her face.

"All he said was that our parents are in a bad situation and they could get themselves hurt! He never said anything about the military's plan to kill them!" Rin blurted out as she looked up at Len with tears in her eyes. She immediately covered her mouth as soon as the words were out.

Len felt his grip loosen on his sister's shoulders as the shock settled in.

She had known. She had known everything.

"You knew…you KNEW that our parents were going to be killed. You KNEW that Kaito was the one who ordered their death. You KNEW all that and yet you still sold me out to him!"

"Because I love him!" Rin yelled back, "And he loves me too! I would do anything for him; even sell out my whole family!"

"You would kill for him! You would kill your family!"

Rin hesitated for a moment and broke eye contact with Len as she looked at the ground.

"That's right…I would kill my family…"

And before Len knew what was going on, he found his sister once again pointing a gun at me. He felt his feet instinctively move back a few paces as his sister followed his retreat with her gun trained on his stomach.

"You could have been useful to me," Rin said quietly as she looked into Len's eyes, "You could have been useful and you could have continued to live. But now that you know the plan, I have no use for you."

"He's just going to betray you! He doesn't love you!" Len yelled in a desperate attempt to deter Rin.

"Shut the hell up! What do you know about love!" Rin screamed in response, "All anyone ever does is tell me what to do, but Lord Kaito gives me a chance to do what I want! And right now…I want to kill you."

Len felt his heart jump into his chest when he felt his back push up against a wall. Rin continued to advance as she pushed the muzzle of her gun into Len's stomach.

_Am I going to be killed by Rin?_ Len thought as he continued to watch his sister. He quickly closed his eyes when he heard the sound of a gun cocking.

And he continued to stand there in a silence that seemed to drag on into eternity. When he hesitantly opened his eyes, he gave a small gasp of surprise.

His sister's eyes were no longer her own. They had grown an eerie blue that shone in the weak night light.

"I'm sorry," She said in a voice that wasn't her own, "This was your last chance to make a difference and you have failed. I'm sorry."

* * *

Len woke with a start as he felt a sharp pain rip through his stomach. He pulled off the few flimsy blankets that covered him and looked around his environment.

Something was definitely wrong.

The room that he was currently in was lit with only a dim pink light. From where he lay, he saw no evidence of sunlight or the sand and dust that always dominated his country. It was a world completely different from that he had always known.

As he continued to lay in bed and look at his strange new surroundings, he felt his curiosity get the better of him. He set out a tentative foot on the floor and walked over to one of the walls of the room.

He felt his breath leave him as he looked at the world that was floating outside the window. It contained so many structures that he hadn't seen before but there was one thing that truly caught his attention.

The stars.

Even though he had seen the stars many times before in his home country, these seemed to stretch out into eternity and yet seemed close enough to touch. They wove in and out of one another in an intricate display of grace.

"It's beautiful…" Len mumbled to himself.

"I haven't called it that in a long time."

Len turned and pulled out his gun in one motion at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. He had been shot too many times tonight to risk anything. His eyes spread slightly in surprise when he saw the target that his gun was trained on but he held his gun steady.

A young woman stood in a simple black and white dress. Her long pink hair hung all the way to the ground and it seemed to sway in a nonexistent breeze as she stood there. Large headphones covered her ears as she continued to stare at Len.

She stared with her blue eyes that seemed to radiate with an unnatural blue light.

"Who are you? Where am I? What happened to my life?" Len asked in a low voice as he kept his gun pointed at the girl's heart. She stared at him in silence for a few moments before she opened her mouth to answer.

"Welcome," She said in a soft voice that Len could barely hear, "To freedom."


	5. Chapter 5

"What the hell is going on?"

"Why is 02-L in contact with 03?"

"Were the coordinates set wrong? What about 02-R?"

"02-R went where it was supposed to even though the transfer didn't happen like we expected. 02-L should have done the same…"

"Is it because there was interference with the first one? What the hell was that man thinking! We didn't hire him for this!"

"And for his disobedience he shall be brought before the Board of Directors and punished accordingly."

The room fell silent at the sound of a new voice added to the conversation. All the voices that had been bickering previously died down as the woman's heels clicked lightly on the floor. The air was heavy with her importance.

"Director…" One of the men in the room spoke up, "How can you be so calm? Our plan is basically falling apart around us!"

"I can remain clam because there's nothing to worry about," The woman answered with a level voice.

"Nothing to worry about?" Another man shouted as he stood up and slammed his hand down on the console he was sitting in front of, "First 02-R is severely damaged, next 02-L creates an anomaly and lastly 02-L and 03 are in contact with one another!"

The woman's face remained unchanged as she approached the panel and deftly typed in a few commands. The screen on the machine flared to life and showed a simple room that glowed with an unnatural red light. A young woman with lifeless brown eyes sat in the middle of the room staring at nothing.

"We still have the female prototype," she explained as she once more typed away at the keypad. The screens changed again to display what seemed to be vital signs. "From these readings it shows that her personality is properly suppressed. We can begin the testing with her."

"But Director!" The man who had spoken up before exclaimed, "We can't just ignore these things! Who knows what kind of consequences having those two together could cause!"

"And I'm telling you," The woman explained as she turned around and stared coldly at her subordinate, "Everything in this test is experimental. We should monitor what kind of effect interaction with a normal human will have on 03. If it's found to be extremely negative, we can avoid all contact with humans in the future. They are staying together and that is final."

With her message delivered the woman turned on her heels and quickly headed out the door. Silence reigned until the door was firmly closed and all the men and women in the room turned back to look at the screens that still displayed the room glowing with red light and the vital signs of the individual inside.

"What in the world is the Director thinking…?"

* * *

Len felt his grip loosen slightly on the gun. That wasn't the answer he was expecting to hear from this random girl in a world of nothing but stars and pink light.

"Freedom?" Len echoed after a moment of tense silence, "What the hell does that mean?"

The young woman's face wavered for a moment as she broke eye contact with Len. He watched as an emotion he couldn't name crossed over her features.

_It was almost like…pain?_ Len thought to himself as he continued to look at the girl.

But before he had a chance to figure out the emotion on her face, it was gone. Her eyes were once again blank as she held his eyes once more.

"I don't know," She replied, "But that is what I have been told and I am simply passing it on to you."

"Like hell you don't know! You're the one that said it!"

Len continued to stare harshly at this odd woman and she continued to stare back. He wasn't sure how long the two of them continued to stand there with their eyes locked, but the girl did not flinch once; she didn't even seem to breathe. After a few more tense moments, Len slowly lowered his gun and placed it back in the holster at his hip. If anything, this girl didn't seem like she intended to harm him. But despite his reasoning, he kept his hand close enough that he could grab the gun in one motion if he needed to.

"So what is this place?" He asked as he kept his eyes trained on the girl.

She stared at him silently and kept her mouth firmly shut. Len felt his anger flare slightly within his chest. He had enough of mysteries and things he didn't understand happening to him. He wanted everything to just return to what he knew.

"What," He spat at the woman, "You suddenly lose your ability to talk?"

The girl stared at him for a moment longer before she opened her mouth to answer.

"Luka," She said quietly.

"Luka?" Len echoed bewildered.

"My name is…Luka," She repeated.

"Well that's great," Len responded with a deep frown, "But I didn't ask you what the hell you name was, I asked you where we are!"

The girl didn't even flinch at the sound of Len's raised voice. She simply stared blankly at him and opened her mouth to answer once again. "I don't know," She replied simply, "But I didn't think you would like hearing that answer, so I just told you what I do know."

"Well congratulations," Len said sarcastically, "In your attempt to not piss me off you've done exactly that. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to try to find a way out of this hell hole."

Without another word, Len turned his back to the strange woman. He ran his hand over the odd substance that the room was made of. Occasionally, he would bang his hand against the glass to see if there was any weak point that he could break through. But despite his best efforts, the glass seemed incredibly sturdy. Once Len reached the corner, he realized that it was littered with scratch marks that seemed to have been made in desperation.

_Maybe it's not as strong as I thought it was,_ he mused to himself as he ran his hand over the marks, _If someone made these scratch marks, there must be a way out…_

"I…don't believe that's something to be congratulated on," He heard the girl comment from behind him.

"What are you talking about now?" Len asked harshly.

"You said congratulations that I..." Len heard the girl's voice stop as she reached the part where he had initially swore.

"What?" He asked as he stood up and turned to look at her, "You don't swear?"

"Swear?" She asked, "I only stopped because I couldn't remember the word you used."

Len stared at the girl incredulously. Was she actually that oblivious to the world, or was she just acting in an attempt to lure him into a false sense of security?

"Are you stupid or something?" He asked as she continued to stare at him.

"I…don't think that I'm stupid," She responded.

"The way you talk you sure seem like it," Len said as he turned around to look at the corner once more. The room fell into silence as Len searched the corner and he could only imagine what the girl was doing. He wasn't really concerned about her, she was too 'out of reality' to be any harm to him. But unfortunately due to that same thing, he highly doubted that she would be much use in making his escape.

"It's most likely impossible to get out," Luka spoke up once more, "I tried a lot when I was younger."

"When you were younger?" Len asked as he kept his back turned to her, "How long have you been here?"

"I don't know…"

"That seems to be all you're able to tell me," Len answered as he continued to investigate the corner.

"I'm sorry, but I did tell you my name."

"And a lot of good that will do us."

"…Why are you so…sad?"

Those words stopped Len. He turned to look at the girl, but she was still standing in the same place with the exact same expression on her face.

"I'm not sad, I'm angry, I'm frustrated, I'm pissed off," He responded flatly.

The girl gave a slow and deliberate shake of her head, "No, you're sad. You're trying your best not to cry so you're looking for other stuff to do besides cry."

"Shut up!" He practically shouted as he stood up from the floor, "I am not going to cry! I am not going to cry dammit!"

But with each word, Len could feel his defenses breaking down. The welled up frustration, disappointment and raw sadness overcame him as he collapsed onto the floor and allowed himself to cry. He cried for his parents, for the friends that had attempted to cross the border and never returned, for his sister's betrayal, for his sister's death. He cried for everything he couldn't cry about before.

"Dammit…dammit!" He muttered between sobs that racked his body. It was too much for a 14 year old to handle. No matter how mature he acted, his age could not be changed. His life had been turned upside down.

When he had been seeking freedom so desperately, all he seemed to find was pain and loneliness.

* * *

Luka watched as the young boy cried and shook. She wasn't certain what to do. This was her first time seeing another person in a long time and she had long ago buried all memories and emotions from when she was surrounded by other people.

But as she watched the boy cry, a small part of those dead memories seemed to surface. Not even realizing what she was doing, she knelt down next to the young boy. He was muttering to himself as he continued to cry heavily. Luka watched as he occasionally banged on the glass floor of her cell of tranquility. As she watched, her dead memories once more took over and she reached out a hand to place on the young boy's shoulder.

_Someone did this for me when I cried…_ She thought as she lightly placed her hand on his shoulder, _It always made me feel…better._

But the instant that Luka's hand landed on the boy's shoulder, he slapped her hand away.

"I don't need your pity! Just leave me alone!" He shouted.

Luka slowly withdrew her hand and held it to her chest. That wasn't what she wanted to happen; she had hoped to help the boy, not make him yell more. She wanted to try something else, but the part of her memory that had returned for a moment had once more quietly retreated and Luka was at a loss for what to do. So she stood up and watched. She just stood there and watched him cry, not quite sure what to do with himself. As she continued to watch him the young boy's sobs began to slowly die down.

Ping!

The young boy instantly lifted his head and darted his eyes around the room at the unexpected sound, but Luka simply turned around already knowing what that sound meant. Just as she expected, in the middle of the room sat dinner for two, but also something else. As Luka approached to look at it, she found lying between the two bowls a pair of clothing and a set of headphones. She picked up the headphones and turned them over in her hands.

They were noticeably different from the ones on her head. Whereas her headphones were brown and gold with a patch that gave off a blue light, these headphones were white with patches that were covered in yellow glass. But similar to her headphones, these had an engraving on them.

"L-E-N…" She spoke aloud to herself as she traced each letter.

"What the hell are you spelling my name for? And what is that stuff?"

Luka turned around as she heard the voice of the boy, whose name she had just learned was Len, and found that he was standing and was no longer crying. Instead he was staring intently at her as her finger subconsciously traced over his name on the headphones once more.

"These are yours," She explained simply as she held up the headphones to him. "Those are yours also," She added as she motioned towards the clothes.

She watched as Len eyed her suspiciously before stepping forward and taking the headphones from her hands. He turned them over in his hands much as Luka had done a few moments ago.

"I would ask you why the hell you have headphones with my name on them, but I get the feeling that you wouldn't be able to give me a helpful answer."

"…The room sometimes produces things. Usually it's food or a bed when I need it, but it has also produced clothing as I have grown."

"Well as much as you may like to trust the creepy room that gives you supplies, I'm not going to," Len retorted as he handed the headphones back to Luka. She took them silently and placed them back on top of the clothing. When she had turned back around, Len was once more examining the walls of the room.

"You should eat something…" She said as she glanced down at the two meals that had been prepared for them.

"I'll be fine. I'm not going to be here much longer anyways…" He responded as he continued to search.

Not wanting to risk him yelling at her again, Luka didn't repeat her earlier comment that she thought escape was impossible. Instead, she sat down and began to eat. Today it was beef stew.

_Maybe to see what he likes?_ She thought to herself as she watched him continue to knock on the walls and mumble in frustration.

She silently ate her stew and watched the young boy walk in a circle a few times around the perimeter of the room. She took in everything about him; his expression, the way he walked, how he muttered to himself, the way he was dressed, the way he wore his hair; everything. The more she watched him, the more Luka found that she wanted to talk with him.

_But every time I talk he yells…_ Luka thought as she looked down at the half eaten bowl of stew in her hands. She couldn't name the feeling that came about when he yelled at her, she only knew that she didn't like it. The way his eyes would narrow and the way he would look at her…she didn't want to see it again if it could be avoided. The air hung heavy with an uneasy silence as Luka continued to eat her meal and Len continued to walk the perimeter of the room.

"Hey…"

Luka looked up at the unexpected sound of the young boy's voice. He kept his back to her, but he had stopped his walking for now. She stared at him with blank eyes as he continued to stand there without saying a word.

"I'm…sorry…" He finally said, "I shouldn't have yelled at you just because I was thrown into a situation I don't understand. If we want to get out, we'll have to work together."

_If we want to get out?_ Luka thought as she looked at his back _Do I…want to get out? Do I want to escape…freedom?_

"You should eat something," Luka commented once more after another moment of tense silence, "The room never changes and having food in your stomach will help you think."

She watched as the boy gave a slight nod of his head before he turned around and took a seat next to Luka. He eagerly picked up the bowl and began to eat as if he had never eaten before. Luka watched him for a few moments longer before she returned to her own meal.

Silence settled once more between the two of them, but now Luka felt that the silence was somehow…softer than before.

* * *

"Here's some coffee Ma'am," A young woman with glasses said as she placed the cup on the table. The other woman at the table gave a half-smile and took the cup in her hands.

"Well…tell me the schedule for today," The woman said as she slowly sipped at her coffee.

"Most of today will be spent examining the interactions between 02-L and 03. Also, testing with the female prototype starts today, just as you suggested," The woman with glasses commented as she flipped through the pages clipped to her clipboard, "Oh, there's also the trial to decide what to do with the hired help."

"Right…the one that damaged company property."

"I know it may be out of line for me to ask…but what do you think will happen to him?"

"My guess is if the Head Director gets his way he'll be executed."

"Executed?" The woman echoed back in horror.

The other woman gave a nod of her head as she set down the cup. In the same motion, she pulled a coin from her pocket and began to play with it in her palm. The woman with glasses watched her for a few seconds before her curiosity overwhelmed her.

"May I…ask one more question that is out of line?" She asked tentatively.

The other woman looked over at her and gave a tight smile, "I didn't have you detained for the first one, so you're welcome to try your luck with another question."

The young woman swallowed audibly, but she eventually found her voice. "W-What…why are you allowing 02-L and 03 to interact? It could endanger the entire project."

Rather than answer, the other woman flipped the coin over in her palm a few times. …_Flip…Flip…Flip…_

"As an individual," The woman began as she continued to flip the coin, "I'm very similar to this coin."

"E-Excuse me?" The woman with glasses asked.

"On one side, I'm a scientist. I do things for research and have dedicated the larger part of my life to this project. But on the other side…" …_Flip…_ "I'm a human and the more I watch this project the more disgusted I become. I wonder…which side will win in the end…"

…_Flip…Flip…Flip…_


	6. Chapter 6

Luka watched as Len once more ran his hands over one of the many marks on the glass barrier of her world. Over the past few days, the two of them had developed an odd routine of sorts. They would wake up, eat whatever breakfast the room had prepared for them and Len would resume his relentless searching of every corner of the room as Luka silently watched him. The only time either of them spoke was when Len would mutter to himself or when he would raise his voice above muttering to ask the occasional question and Luka would answer to the best of her ability.

But as Luka watched the familiar ritual play out once more, she felt an odd sensation rise in her chest. It was almost as if there was a palpable pain. She gently placed he hand on her chest as she felt the soft and slow beat of her heart. Her heart seemed to be operating like normal, but knowing this didn't stop the pain from pulsing in her chest.

_Is it…disappointment?_ Luka thought to herself as she slowly let her hand drop back to her side, _I haven't seen anyone in so many years…am I disappointed that I haven't spoken to him and gotten answers?_

_"Freedom is being able to dance."_

Luka's hand instantly went to her forehead as a dull throb of pain shot through her head along with the mysterious voice from before.

"Dance…" Luka mumbled the word under her breath. The word still meant nothing to her, but that didn't stop her from inherently liking it.

_But…_ Luka thought as she turned to look at Len who was once more kneeling in the corner, _He might know what it means._ She watched him for a few moments longer before she formed the question in her mind and opened her mouth to ask.

"Le-"

"I want you to stand back."

Luka's question was quickly cut off by the command issued from the young boy. Although she didn't understand why he requested it, she swallowed her question and took a few hesitant steps backwards. She watched as Len looked over his shoulder at her, annoyance clear on his face.

"No, I want you to stand further back, like in the opposite corner of the room," He said in a voice laced with impatience.

Luka stared at him for a few moments longer before she complied and stood in the opposite corner of the room. Len nodded to himself and pulled out a device that was vaguely familiar to Luka before he also walked towards the corner Luka was standing in. As he got closer, Luka saw that the thing he was holding in his hand was what he was pointing at her when they had first met several days ago.

"…What's that?" Luka asked as her eyes explored the alien device.

"It's a gun," Len answered flatly as he stood in front of Luka.

"What are you going to do with it?" She asked as she looked up into his eyes. But before she could search his eyes for an answer, he turned around so she was once more staring at his back. Luka felt her back push lightly against the glass behind her as Len nudged her further backwards.

"What are you…?"

BANG BANG

Luka's question was cut off by the sound of two gunshots rending the air. Luka felt her eyes go wide for a moment in surprise at the sudden and sharp noise. Everything in the room seemed to hold still for a moment before Luka saw Len move from his position in front of her as he quickly walked to the other side of the room.

"…What was that?" Luka asked as her voice shook slightly.

Rather than answer, Len knelt down and inspected the corner. Luka heard him muttering to himself once more. As his search continued, his mutterings grew more frequent as he seemed to lose all realization that Luka was still in the room with him.

"…Len?" She asked tentatively after a few moments more. She was met with silence. Before she realized what she was doing, Luka found herself walking towards the corner Len was in. She wasn't aware of it yet, but the sound of those bullets had stirred long dead emotions and memories. She looked over his shoulder and found two objects resting on the floor and, to her surprise, there were two small dents in the wall of glass.

"Len?" She asked once more as she stood close behind him.

"What?" Len snapped as he turned to look at the older girl.

"…What were those?"

"They were gunshots, I thought I might be able to shatter the glass with them, but they barely dented it," Len commented as turned back to look at the small dents he had made, "If we had enough rounds, we could probably keep hitting the glass and eventually break out but…dammit, I don't have enough to keep trying this out."

"Why did you make me stand in the other corner of the room? Why did you stand in front of me when you fired the…gunshots?" Luka asked as she looked down at the boy.

"I had no idea what the bullets would do, they could have ricocheted like crazy and hit one of us, so I thought it would be better if we both got as far away as possible. Although…the bullets didn't go very far…" Len said before he once more fell into muttering.

"So you were…protecting me?"

Luka's words stopped Len's muttering as he instantly found the dents made by the bullets more interesting. Luka noticed that the young boy was trying his best to make sure that wherever his eyes settled, it wasn't her face. Had she said something to upset him?

Yet his silence told Luka one thing; her guess had been right. She had learned even after knowing Len for a short time that if she had been wrong in her guess, he would have quickly informed her.

_That means…he was protecting me…_

"…Thank you…" Luka said as the boy continued to avert his eyes. She wasn't sure where that response had come from; she hadn't said it to anyone in so many years. But the feeling of thanking someone and genuinely meaning it caused Luka to feel her heart jump slightly in her chest.

"I wasn't really protecting you," Len said as he stood up and turned to look at Luka, "Y-You just know a lot about the room so I can't have you getting hurt. That's all."

Luka met his eyes and she felt the pain in her chest return once more. This was her opportunity. He wasn't investigating the corner and the two of them weren't eating and Luka felt that he might even be willing to talk at this point.

"Len…" She began, "Can I…ask you some questions?"

The boy's embarrassment and slight stutter quickly fled as his face became serious once more as he locked eyes with Luka. She could tell that he was searching her eyes much as she was searching his. She wondered briefly what he was searching for.

"…Fine," He said after a moment's pause. He quickly and meaningfully sat himself on the floor and leaned his back against the wall. Luka followed suit and sat across from him but instead of starting to ask him questions, the room fell silent.

"Well what the hell do you want to ask me?" Len questioned as annoyance crept into his voice.

"I…don't really know…" Luka admitted as she looked down at her hands which were resting on her knees.

"So you're just wasting my time?"

Even without looking up, Luka could tell that the young boy's eyes had narrowed once more. He was making the face he always made when she told him she didn't know something. This wasn't what she wanted at all; she couldn't stand to lose this opportunity.

"It's just…I haven't spoken with anyone in so long…I guess…I just want you to talk about…anything…" She said in a quiet voice as she continued to stare at her hands. She didn't know if Len was still staring at her with his narrowed eyes, but she didn't care to look up and find out. As the seconds dragged on, Luka silently stood up. It was obvious to her that she had said something that upset Len enough that he wouldn't be talking to her any more.

"I'm sorry…" She said as she turned her back to the boy that continued to sit on the floor.

Silence once more.

Oppressive, painful silence.

Silence that has been her companion for many long years.

"I…lived in a small desert town. It was my parents, my sister and I."

Luka turned around at the unexpected sound to find that Len was the one who had shattered the silence. He was staring at the ground as he spoke, but he was speaking loudly and clearly enough for Luka to hear him. The older girl slowly lowered herself to the ground across from the boy as he continued to speak almost as if to himself.

"The desert was always harsh, but mom insisted on growing herbs to sell at the market. I don't know why she was so damn stubborn about it, but hell would reign in the house if she wasn't allowed to grow her herbs. A lot of times dad and I would be the ones who had to actually tend to the stupid things. But I guess it was okay in the end. The herbs actually helped people in the village a lot and they made us quite a bit of money and mom always smiled like crazy when we brought them into the house. This one time…"

* * *

The room was silent as all eyes fell on one man. He had once been a proud man, assured in all he did, but when faced with death the mask quickly fell away. His hair was disheveled, his once clean uniform was horribly disarrayed and any trace of pride seemed to have left him. His eyes darted frantically about the room looking for an escape but the effort was futile as the vulture like eyes stared down at him from their perch on high.

The man that sat at the head of the council stood up to look down upon the condemned man. Everyone watched as the condemned man's eyes once more desperately sought an escape that would never be there.

"Do you know why you are standing before us today?" The man of power asked with a voice that boomed in the tall chamber.

"I-I don't know! I didn't do anything wrong! I just did what I was commanded!" The other man answered back in a voice that was desperate and feeble in comparison.

"Silence!" The man's voice boomed out once more, "You know very well what you have done! You were not promoted to colonel so that you could damage company property however you wish!"

"It was the only way! They were going to kill me! I had to fight back!"

"Enough of your lies! We monitor all our soldiers including those from outside agencies and we know very well what happened that night. For your crimes, you shall be sentenced to death."

"No! Please! Anything but that! I'll do anything!"

"Sir…" a quite feminine voice said, "If I may…"

All eyes in the room turned to look towards this new addition to the conversation. A young woman had stood up from her seat in the Board of Directors. She was looking down at the broken man that was currently on trial.

"You are the director of this experiment, correct?" The man with the booming voice asked, "What do you wish to say?"

"I think that death for this man is a little too hasty."

With those words, a general murmur started in the room.

"Too hasty? He has damaged company property, almost beyond repair, it's only natural that he pay with his life," The man responded.

"I'm not saying he shouldn't be punished, but I just think that he can prove to be much more…useful to us alive than he is dead."

"What exactly are you proposing?"

"With the complications that arose with 02-L, we have yet to obtain a male prototype. It seems to me we have a perfect candidate right there," The woman responded as she gestured to the young man currently hunched over in his chair, "We can inject the psyche suppression drug and the growth halting hormone at the same time so that he'll be ready for testing in only a few months."

"But in your reports you indicated that injecting those two at the same time could have adverse effects."

"It's true that it may negatively affect an individual's vocal cords, but he will only be used as a prototype, there's no need for him to be perfect. Also, we don't know to what extent the injections can damage an individual, so this testing may actually prove useful in finding out if it's as damaging as we predict. Besides, we've started testing with the female prototype and I'm interested to learn if any part of the psyche will come back when they interact with other individuals in the same condition as them."

A heavy silence hung in the room as the back and forth between these two powerful people came to an end. All eyes were fixed on the man as they awaited his answer.

"…Very well. If he can prove useful, there's no reason to throw him away," The man responded at last. He turned to once more face the condemned man. "You are no longer sentenced to death, but will instead be used in one of the experiments here."

"E-Experiments?" The man asked weakly as he slowly raised his head. His eyes quickly scanned the room until the settled on the face of the woman who had stood up earlier. His eyes went wide in horror, "No, no! I will not be used as a slave! I'll take death, I'll take death! I'll-"

"Take this filth out of my sight," The man said as he signaled to the guards flanking the prisoner. As the young man was dragged away, his screams filled the chambers; screams begging for death. When the door slammed behind the condemned man, the room fell silent once more.

"I hope you know what you're doing," the powerful man said as he turned to look at the woman, "Many people have invested unfathomable amounts of money and time into this project, if it fails…"

"Don't worry sir; I'll make sure it doesn't."

* * *

_What the hell am I doing?_

But despite his inner reluctance to continue speaking, Len couldn't stop the words from pouring out. It was almost as if a dam had been removed and there was no holding back anymore. He found himself talking about everything; his family, their business, his life, his home town even stupid unimportant stories that his parents used to tell him in his childhood.

On occasion, Len would glance up from the floor to look at Luka's face. It's not like anything ever changed, she just kept staring directly at him with her blank blue eyes. It was unnerving; her face remained blank no matter how horrifying or silly the story was. Len was only able to keep contact with those blank eyes for a few seconds before he looked away.

_It's like she's some creepy kind of doll…_ Len thought silently to himself as words continued to pour out of his mouth unbidden.

"-And on the night we were escaping, Rin-"

Len cut himself short as he realized what he was saying. He may have accidently spilled a lot already, but he wasn't willing to share the story of his sister's betrayal. He felt that if he told her, it would be like admitting that it was the truth and not some horrible nightmare.

"Well…there you go," Len said as he prematurely cut himself off, "I've told you enough stupid stuff for now."

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Luka give a slight shake of her head, "No, it wasn't stupid. Thank you for telling me all that stuff, it was…fun."

Then Luka did something Len wasn't expecting at all; she smiled.

It wasn't a huge smile, just the slightest lift of the corners of her mouth, but it seemed like a drastic change for Luka. A small part of the smile seemed to reach her eyes and for a moment, Len saw the remnants of a normal girl in those eyes. But as quickly as the change had come, it once more disappeared.

"May I…ask one more question?" Luka asked.

"…Fine…" Len responded grudgingly. There was something in that smile he had just seen that almost compelled him to agree to her request.

"Do you know what the word…dance…means?"

Len lifted his head and looked once more at the girl. Was she joking? But as always, Luka was staring with her blank eyes, waiting patiently for an answer.

"It means…well…gah! I don't know how the hell to explain it! It's more something that you have to see," Len said in frustration.

"Will you…show me then?"

"Hell no," Len answered instantly.

"Why not?"

"Because I'll look like a damn idiot if I dance by myself!"

"Then I'll dance with you."

"W-What? No!" Len responded as he felt his cheeks heat slightly.

"…Why not? If you have someone dancing with you then you won't look like a 'damn idiot'."

"Well, well maybe, but dancing isn't really something you just do, there has to be music and…I don't know! Just drop it!" Len could tell that by the end of his speech his cheeks were burning. Try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to look up at Luka's face.

"…Okay…" he heard Luka say after a moment more.

"Now I've wasted enough time talking," Len said as he finally managed to gather himself. He turned his back towards Luka and once more looked at the corner. He swore quietly under his breath as he saw to his disappointment that his earlier assessment of the damage had been correct. Although the bullets had made dents, they were small and the material showed no sign of cracking.

_Right now I have 8 rounds left in the gun,_ Len silently estimated to himself, _I could just unload them now and see if it'll break the glass…but if I do that and it doesn't work, I'm out of bullets to defend myself with. Dammit…what should I do?_

"…Dinner will probably be served soon," Luka commented from behind him. The tone in Luka's voice caused Len to pause for a moment. He may have heard incorrectly, but it sounded almost sad.

Involuntarily, Len found himself glancing over his shoulder to look at Luka. By this point, she had moved to the other side of the room and her back was currently to Len; there was no way he would be able to read the truth of her emotions.

_Don't worry about stupid things,_ Len chided himself as he gave a quick shake of his head, _What does it matter if she's sad or not? That's got nothing to do with me._

"Sounds good," Len responded as he once more turned back to the wall.

* * *

"So…has the room been prepared?" The woman asked as she turned to look at her room of subordinates. Everyone was busily typing commands into their personal terminal and occasionally casting their gaze towards the large screen in the room.

"We've just finished formulating it," One man answered in reply to her question, "The guards should be bringing in the man shortly."

"Good, is the speaker system in place like I asked?"

"Of course Director…but don't you think it's kind of dangerous to have that channel to the outside available to him?"

"We'll be fine. I'm just going to use it to speak with him momentarily, then you can take the system offline if you so wish."

The other man opened his mouth to respond when he was interrupted by the sound of screaming and struggling from the direction of the monitor. All eyes in the room lifted to look as the man who had been condemned earlier that day was being forced into a large empty room that glowed with a blue light. The man's struggling had become noticeably more sluggish and his cries were beginning to die in his throat.

"He continues to struggle," the Director mused to herself, "Even though he's been injected with the psyche suppressant, the growth halting hormone and a tranquilizer …"

All eyes watched once more as the man was thrown to the ground and the guards that had been restraining him quickly exited in a door the closed instantly behind him. The man lifted himself off the ground and made his way to the location where the door had once been. He began to use whatever energy the drugs left him to feebly scratch at his now impassable escape route.

The director gave an inward sigh as she picked up a small microphone.

"Welcome to your new home," She said into the small device. At the sound of a human voice, the man on the screen lifted his head and began to look around with a feral look in his eyes.

"Don't bother looking," The woman replied tartly, "There is no escape for you. You shall be punished for your crime of damaging company property by becoming company property yourself."

"Why? Why am I here? Just kill me! Kill me!" The man screamed as he looked about his room like the caged animal that he was.

"That would not benefit us in the least; you shall be used for experimentation. Don't worry; by the time the psyche suppressant takes effect you won't feel anything. But…" The woman stated as she took a meaningful pause, "I'm still human, so I suppose I can hear your last words before you become nothing but a shadow of your former self. So please, say whatever you wish."

"I'll give you anything!" The man yelled as he threw himself about the room. He used his failing energy to fling himself against the glass of his imprisonment repeatedly in hopes of an escape. When he realized it was futile, he turned to look towards the celling where he estimated the voice was coming from.

"Anything! I have money! I have power! I can…I can give you freedom! Do you want that? You'll never have to work another day in your life! You can live at leisure as you wish! You'll be free to do what you want! Just…just let me out!"

All eyes had once more turned to look at the Director. Her body had become noticeably tenser as she gripped the microphone in her hand. Her eyes were closed tight as if in concentration and the entire room seemed to be holding their breath in anticipation of her answer.

"So you waste your last words on hollow promises? I'm terribly sorry to hear that," The Director commented as she slowly opened her eyes, "I had thought that you would have something more meaningful to say. Sadly I seem to be mistaken. Oh well, next time you awake you won't have an identity to cling to or empty promises to make. Farewell for the last time…Lord Kaito."

With her words spoken, the man on the screen started to scream feebly, rebelling against his inevitable fate. The woman slowly set down the microphone and turned to the man next to her. Her eyes were calm as she relayed her instructions.

"Take the PA system offline; there's no more use for it."

The man gave an unsteady nod of his head and the rest of the individuals returned to typing away at their terminals. The Director stood and stared at the image of the man on the screen. If any of the individuals in the room had happened to look up from their monitor, they may have noticed the few tears that ran down the Director's cheeks. But before anyone was given the opportunity to see her cry, the Director had already wiped away the tears and she was once more staring with eerily empty blue eyes at the world she had created.


	7. Chapter 7

"…Why are you making me stand with my back to you all the way across the room?"

Len took a breath and counted to five before he had controlled his temper enough to answer. "I told you," He started in what he hoped was a level voice, "I'm changing and I don't want you staring at me."

"But you've been here for quite some time and you haven't change clothes before even though the clothes have been here as long as you have," He heard Luka answer in her usual almost monotone way.

"Well that's because before I didn't smell like something had died," Len answered as he began to remove the brown cloak he had slung over his shoulders. He held it in his hands and stared at it for a moment. He had been wearing it since the night he and Rin had attempted to escape. After a moment longer, he released the cloak from his hands and watched as it fell to the ground with an unceremonious thud.

The cloak removed, he turned to stare at the clothes that the room had provided for him when he had first arrived. The clothing sat neatly folded in a pile, untouched since his arrival; the headphones that had arrived with the clothing sat on top. Len couldn't stop himself from staring at the headphones.

_Why in the hell did these headphones have my name on them? Did someone know I was coming? Are they watching me right now? What do they want with me?_ Len thought to himself as he evaluated the headphones. They sat innocently and betrayed no answers.

"Are you…almost done?"

"What?" Len asked in a daze as he was pulled from his ponderings by a quiet voice, "Oh, yeah. I'm almost done."

Quickly pushing away all his questions and theories, Len removed the clothing of his old life and changed into the costume of his new life. Len couldn't help but pull uncomfortably at the vest and tie that he was currently wearing. The material was much smoother than the rough clothing he had just removed, but he couldn't help but sincerely hope that he had some way to wash his old clothing so he could continue to wear it.

Before he turned around, Len rummaged in the pile of his old clothing and picked up the belt that held his gun holster. He quickly fastened the belt around his waist and felt the familiar weight of the gun settle at his hip. He couldn't help but grab the grip of the gun just to assure himself that it was still there. It was the only thing

"Alright," Len said as he turned around to face the girl, "you can turn around now."

Luka listened dutifully and turned around to face Len. Her expression didn't change, but he could tell that her eyes were evaluating him.

"So how do I look?" Len couldn't stop himself from asking with a small grin. He wasn't quite sure how Luka would respond. Even though the two of them had been living together for, by Len's rough calculations, about two months, he still knew nothing more about the girl than her name and the fact that she was frustratingly oblivious.

It took a moment for her to finish her evaluation before she met his eyes to answer. "You look uncomfortable in them. It makes you stand differently than usual," She responded. If it had been anyone but Luka telling him this, Len would have taken it as an insult. But Len knew that when Luka spoke, it was just her honest evaluation of the situation.

"Well…I may be, but I don't really have a choice. It's not like the room gave me a whole bunch of choices of clothing."

"You could have kept wearing your old clothing."

"Yeah except for, as we covered earlier, it smells like something died."

"Alright," Luka said as a means of ending the conversation, "Are you going to resume your search for a way out?"

"Of course," Len responded resolutely, "I may be wearing new clothes but that doesn't mean I want to become a member of this screwed up world."

Luka gave a slight nod of her head in acknowledgement before she sat down in the corner to do…whatever she did in her free time. Len never really paid attention.

Len began to search the walls of the room as he had every day since he first arrived in this new world. Every time he looked the world remained unchanged, but Len couldn't help but hold out hope that something would happen and he would have his chance to escape; the thought was one of the few things keeping him going.

As Len continued his futile search silence settled in the room. Len couldn't help but glance over his shoulder occasionally at the girl behind him. Usually by this point, she would have asked him at least one question if not more but today she was staring intently down at her hands completely oblivious to his presence in the room.

"What are you doing?" Len finally asked after his curiosity got the better of him.

The girl looked up instantly, almost as if a spell was broken by the sound of his voice. She thrust her arm out and looked down once more at the object that lay in her hand.

"It fell while you were changing. I'm not sure what it is, but I didn't want to ask you because you yell whenever I ask questions."

"I don't yell every time," Len answered as he walked towards the girl. She gave no answer but she opened her palm further as Len knelt down next to her to see whatever treasure lay in her hand.

It was a coin.

There was nothing sinister about the coin but Len couldn't help having an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. As Len looked down at the coin's face, it shone dully in the pink light of the room. He had seen the coin somewhere before…

"It's from that woman!" Len practically yelled as he looked at the coin.

"That…woman?" He heard Luka ask from beside him.

"Yeah," Len said almost excitedly as he continued to stare at the coin, "it was like some screwed up time loop. My sister had been shot and I ran away, but after I passed out I was at home and it was like nothing had happened. Then this woman came to our stall and gave me the coin. I thought for sure it was just a dream…"

Len trailed off as he realized the implications of the coin. It was real; what had happened with that woman was real. Len snatched the coin from Luka's hand and began to search it feverishly. He had no idea what he was looking for; the only thought that dominated his mind was the fact that this coin existed and it was something from his previous life. Yet, the coin also made another fact startling clear.

His past life was over; all that was left was a coin.

"Dammit," Len swore to himself as he angrily pushed his last thought away, "This coin isn't going to tell me anything."

Yet despite his reasoning, he continued to search the coin relentlessly. After a few moments more, he threw down the coin in frustration when it clanked against the floor harmlessly. He began to pace quickly as his mind worked frantically to recall the encounter with the woman who had handed him the coin.

"What did she tell me? What the hell did she tell me?" Len muttered over and over to himself almost as if possessed. Try as he might, he couldn't remember anything the two of them had talked about. The only thing Len found himself able to remember was her eyes. The rest of her head had been covered, but he could clearly see her eyes.

They were an eerie blue; an empty blue; a hollow blue.

In that moment, something clicked in Len's mind.

He turned to look at the other resident of this world and found her standing staring at him. Her palms were cupped once more around the coin that she had picked up from the floor. She stared at him; she stared at him with those eyes.

They were an eerie blue; an empty blue; a hollow blue.

"It was you…" Len said in a voice barely above a low growl, "You were the one who dragged me into this fucking mess…"

Luka's face remained unchanged by Len's accusation and she instead stood with her usual blank expression. Her hands were still cupped around the coin. The look of her so calm and collected after he had figured out her betrayal only made Len's blood boil.

"It was you!" He said much more forcefully, "It was _you!_"

"It was…me?" Luka asked as she continued to look at Len, "I…don't know what you're talking about."

"You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about! You came to the stall! You're the one that gave me the coin! It was after I met you that my life turned into this hell!"

No longer thinking rationally, Len quickly closed the gap between the two of them and grabbed her shoulders forcefully. He saw her face wince in pain for a moment, but Len had no pity for her. She was the woman who had turned his life upside-down.

"Why the hell did you do it! Did you just want some damn company? Is that why you turned my life inside out! Let me out of the damn room!" With each accusation, Len's voice grew louder and his grip on Luka's shoulders grew tighter. Luka remained silent, but at the edges of her eyes something akin to fear seemed to slowly be filling her eyes.

Those empty blue eyes; those eyes of a betrayer.

Her silence only stood to enrage Len more as he violently shook Luka's shoulders. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard the telltale clink of the coin falling to the floor, but Len didn't bother with it. What he wanted now was answers and Luka was going to give them to him.

"Tell me everything dammit! Tell me!" Len screamed as he gave her another violent shake. He watched as the girl dropped her head and looked at the ground. He wasn't sure what she was going to do, but he didn't have to wait long to find out. After a few moments of heavy silence her paper thin voice filled the air.

"…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"

Len let his guard down for a moment. That wasn't the answer he was expecting to hear. Even more surprising was what happened next.

He heard a soft sound of something hitting the ground. He looked down, but saw nothing on the ground beside the coin that lay forgotten. The soft sound came once more and Len realized what it was for the first time.

They were tears.

Luka was crying.

* * *

Something warm and salty ran down her face; her vision was blurred; her mouth continued to move on its own uttering one phrase over and over again. Luka continued to stare down at the ground as her body reacted on its own. There was a pain in her chest that hadn't been there before. But it hurt.

It hurt so much.

Eventually, Luka lifted her hand to her face and interrupted one of the streams of salty warmth. She looked at her hand perplexed. What was running down her face and where was it coming from?

Suddenly, Luka became aware of a dull pain on her shoulders. She forced herself to look up and she was met with blue eyes that seemed to burn with and emotion Luka couldn't place.

_I wonder…why he's looking at me like that…_ Luka thought dully as her body continued to move of its own accord. All sounds had died away except for the steady sound of her heart drumming in her ears.

The pain in her chest continued to burn on.

"…I'm sorry…"

Luka heard an apology from somewhere. She wanted to tear her eyes away from Len's to find the source of the voice, but she found that he body wasn't responding like she wanted. It was then that she started to recognize the voice. It was familiar.

It was her own.

No…not her own…

It was…someone that wasn't her…

It was…

That's when the whole world around her started to turn hazy. A white fog descended on the world around her as a high shrill sound filled her ears. Yet despite all this, she still found herself unable to pull her eyes away from the eyes that stared at her. Those blue flaming eyes were the last thing she remembered seeing before her world faded away to black.

* * *

"What the hell is going on?" Len yelled at Luka and shook her but the effort was meaningless; the girl was completely oblivious to the world around her. Len released his grip on Luka's shoulder and leaned her gently against the wall.

"What the hell?" Len reiterate to himself as he looked frantically around the room. A high pitch whine rang through the air and the room was slowly filling with a white gas. Len hastily pulled his sleeve to his mouth in an attempt to stop himself from inhaling the gas.

Len ran about the room looking for a way out, but as he already knew there was no escape from this room. Len felt his strength slip away as he involuntarily inhaled a large portion of the mysterious gas. His legs buckled underneath him and he felt his knees bang against the ground.

He felt himself fall forward as his body went numb. He forced his eyes to look over to where Luka lay. She lay perfectly still. There was no sign of the rise and fall of her chest, she didn't move in the slightest. If it wasn't for the tearstains that ran down her cheeks, Len could have easily claimed that she was a broken doll.

It wasn't fair.

He had finally found answers and now he was losing them again. Was he going to die without any of his questions being answered?

"Not fair…" Len mumbled weakly as he looked at Luka, "…You're not allowed to die…I need answers…I have to…apologize…I…didn't mean to…make…you…cry…"

Len felt his thoughts dissolve in a haze as the gas overtook him and his eyes finally closed.

_I wonder…if this is what death is like…_

* * *

**A/N**: So...are you confused yet? Don't worry, next chapter things will at least start to be explained. I hope that you enjoy! :)


	8. Chapter 8

A young girl ran through the empty white corridors that she had become so familiar with over the past few years. What had once been a scary facility quickly became her castle. She knew all the secret passage ways, all the best places to hide when bath time rolled around, and the names of all the people that lived there. It was safe here and she was free to do whatever she wished. As she ran about her castle, she didn't expect anything to be different that day.

This is why she couldn't help but stare at the intruder that came into her domain.

It was another child; she seemed only slightly older than her. She had long brown hair that fell to the middle of her back and brown eyes that glowed with a fiery spirit. The pink haired girl couldn't help but stare; she had never seen another child close to her own age. She wanted desperately to approach and talk to this enigma but the girl was flanked on all sides by researchers and what the girl watching believed to be body guards.

She watched with fascination as the researchers led the girl past her and toward a hallway that the girl knew instinctively from her wanderings ended in a dead end. Her curiosity overflowing, she followed after the girl and her entourage as quietly as possible. Each time her foot padded quietly against the floor, she couldn't help but wince slightly at the soft sound it made.

When they reached the end of the hallway, the young girl made sure to stand considerably back so that she wouldn't be spotted by the researchers; she always got in trouble when she interrupted their work. What happened next she could only describe as magic. One of the researchers pulled something from his pocket and spoke a few words. Suddenly, a dull glow seemed to emanate from his hand. He quickly doused the light by placing his palm against the wall. The young girl gave a gasp of surprise as part of the wall slid away to reveal a gaping doorway.

From where the young girl was standing, she couldn't see inside the room, but she could tell that there was a red light emanating brightly from within. She watched with rapt attention as one of the researchers pushed the girl with the fiery eyes towards the gapping maw in the wall. The girl took a few steps forward before she turned to one of the researchers.

"Please…I don't want to go in there…" Her voice wavered. The girl that hung back noticed that the other girl's eyes were no longer fiery. She wept openly as a researcher besides the one she had spoken to nudged her in the back in an attempt to make her step closer to the room.

The researcher said nothing and instead motioned towards one of the stronger looking men that the girl had inferred to be a body guard. He gave an almost unnoticeable nod of his head before he picked the girl up forcefully by the collar of her shirt. The girl with fiery eyes began to scream and weep all at the same time.

"Please! I don't want to go! Don't make me go! Please no! Daddy! Daddy!"

The girl watched in horror as the other girl was thrown bodily into the room as she continued to scream. Her legs went stiff with terror. She knew she had to run; she would get in trouble if the researchers caught her. But the sound of the horrified screams of the other girl still echoed in her ears and try as she might, she was paralyzed on the spot.

It was then that she heard a sound that seemed out of place in the now eerily quiet corridor. It was the sound of crying. But it was not the sound of the little girl in the room.

The researcher that the girl had spoken to had fallen to the ground and was sobbing uncontrollably.

Almost as if pulled back to her senses by the sound of the man's tears, the young girl took running down the corridor away from a scene she was never meant to see. Her breath came in short gasps as she ran as fast as she could. She didn't feel safe anymore.

Her castle was starting to crumble.

* * *

The first thing Len became aware of was the searing pain that stung his eyes. His mind was slow to translate the pain and inform him what was causing him so much discomfort. It was a bright light that hung just inches from his face. Even with his eyes closed, Len could feel the shafts of light stabbing painfully into his eyes.

He opened his eyes groggily and felt a lancing pain as the full force of the light hit his eyes. He attempted to raise his hand in order to block the light from his face but he found that for some reason his hand wouldn't do what he wanted. Still recovering his sense, Len turned his head to his left to look for what could possibly be restricting his movement. The simple motion sent pain lancing through his head. But, the pain was quickly forgotten due to what he saw.

His wrist was bound with a leather strap. An IV was set up next to whatever he was laying on and the needle was inserted into his arm. The medicine in the IV bag dripped and interrupted the otherwise sickening silence.

Len's mind went into immediate panic as he began to struggle to move. To his frustration, he found that it wasn't just his wrists that were bound, but his arms and legs were also prevented from moving. Even though it would do no good, Len continued to struggle against both the bonds and his rising panic.

"I would suggest you stop moving. If you don't, we'll have to issue a tranquilizer."

The unexpected sound of a voice stopped Len's struggling as he tried to adjust his eyes enough to the bright light to get a good look around the room. To his surprise, there was one woman standing not far off. Her back was currently to him and she seemed to be typing away at a counsel of some form. Len couldn't sense any hostility, but with his current situation, he wasn't going to trust anyone.

With his eyes fixed firmly on the woman's back, he began once more to struggle against his bonds. He tried to do it as quietly as possible in hopes that the woman wouldn't hear. His struggling only served to cause his wrists and ankles to burn and his heart to drum louder in his ears as his panic returned once more.

"Perhaps you're still recovering from the sedative gas, but I believe I said that you should stop struggling. It won't do you any good."

"And why the hell should I listen to you?" Len spat with as much venom as he could muster.

"There's a very simple reason Len Kagamine," The woman said as she turned around to face him for the first time.

"You see…I hold your future in my hands."

* * *

She had almost forgotten the event completely. It had been almost a year since she had seen the girl getting thrown in the room and she had heard nothing more about it. There were no more hidden doors; no more researchers collapsing to the floor crying; no more children visiting. If she pretended hard enough, she could almost convince herself that it had been some sort of odd dream.

Which is why when she overheard people talking about another child coming, she couldn't help but be interested.

Over the next few days, she listened carefully for clues to lead her to wherever they were hiding the other child. As she continued to gather clues, it quickly became a game of hide-and-seek. Before long, she knew the perfect way to find the child. The lead director of the company backing the research facility was coming to look in on the project. They would be meeting in one of the research rooms. She found to her delight that if she positioned herself just right, she could hide in a small alcove that no adult would be able to reach.

Her course of action decided, she prepared herself for her stakeout. It almost became an obsession as she planned for everything that could possibly go wrong. If anyone found her, she would quickly claim that she had simply been lost and she would be on her way. Her plan was perfect.

When the fateful day arrived, the girl hid in her hiding space a full half hour before the director was scheduled to come. It was easy sneaking in with all the researchers occupied with making sure that everything was perfect for the coming of the director; one small girl was easy to ignore. As she waited, she chewed nervously on a few cookies she had brought with her. The cookies didn't have a taste in her mouth, but she continued to chew on them in an attempt to stave off her growing anticipation.

Her patience was reward in time as she heard the sound of the door sliding open and shoe soles padding across the floor. Although she couldn't see the man that they called the director, she could tell that the entire room had fallen deadly still as a nervous researcher attempted to work through his stuttering to explain how the project was proceeding.

"Thank you for leading the director here but I believe I will take over from here."

She wasn't sure if it was possible, but the young girl felt the room grown even more still with the addition of this new voice. As she recognized the owner of the voice, she couldn't help but feel pride well up within her chest; the woman who had spoken was the lead director of the project and someone the little girl held very dear.

"Now sir, if you look at the screens here, you can see the displays for both her vitals and the progression of the psyche suppressant drugs. Even though she's only been in there for eight months, her initial readings show much higher results than we ever imagined possible."

"So then the project is progressing much faster than you initially believed possible, correct?"  
"That's correct sir. It's been going so well that we've already prepared the first of the numbered series. She will be brought in in about a year."

"In a year? Don't you believe that you're being overly cautious? From what you've just reported to me, it sounds like the next subject should be prepared as quickly as possible."

"While I understand your interest in the project's continued progress, we should not rush into anything. Unexpected side effects could make themselves apparent as we continue to administer the drug."  
"Are you sure that you're just not stalling? If I remember from the list of names, there was one that stood out to me…"

The young girl strained forward as the voices of the man and woman continued to grow lower and quieter. She knew it was dangerous, but she had to know what they were saying; it was quickly becoming less and less about finding another child and more and more about figuring out the invasion of her castle.

It was then that the worst thing happened.

Her body began to fall before her mind even had time to register what was going on. One second she was hiding effectively trying her best to puzzle through the conversation she was overhearing and the next thing she knew she was lying on her stomach on the floor. When her mind returned enough for her to register what was happening, she realized that every set of eyes in the room were fixated on one point.

Her.

She felt panic set in as she swept the sea of faces that greeted her. Even in her initial sweep, she noticed many researchers that she knew the name of and she could recall some reason that she liked them. That one had given her a cookie once; that one had allowed her to look through a microscope at the wriggling images below; that one had helped put a Band-Aid on her knee after she had fallen while running through the halls. She may not have considered them her close friends, but she cared for them and she thought that the genuinely cared for her.

As they look at her now, she could see an odd mix of disgust, surprise and fear on all of their faces. None of them were smiling or acting kind to her now. As she looked out upon the sea of faces, she felt alone. Her sweeping stopped as her eyes settled on the face of the woman who was the director of the project. What the young girl saw there made her heart stop cold in her chest.

The woman's face was painted with clear fear. In her entire life, the young girl had never seen the woman afraid of anything but to describe the look currently on her face as anything but utter terror would have been a blatant lie.

The girl's sense came back for a moment and she tried to mumble out her excuse that she had prepared earlier but her tongue felt heavy and awkward in her mouth. She could still feel some of the tasteless crumbs from the cookies she had eaten only moments earlier. Those cookies seemed like something from a lifetime ago.

The powerful man was the first to break the silence.

"And what do we have here?" He asked in a voice that the little girl could only describe as soulless, "I believe a rat has been listening in on our conversation."

There was silence in the room as the man quickly closed the gap between himself and where the young girl remained stunned on the floor. She gave a small yelp of pain as he hauled her up from the floor by the scruff of her neck. It hurt so much that she wanted to cry, but she was too frightened to even do that. When he turned her around to face the researchers, her eyes once more fell onto the director of the project. The young girl cried silently in her mind for the woman to save her.

"Sir…she's just a child…she can't have known what we were talking about," The woman began in a voice that sounded feeble in the face of the void of silence.

"She may not have understood, but she may have. She does look to be exceptionally bright. I can't risk the slightest possible chance of information about this project being leaked."

"How could she know anything! She's only six years old!"

"Why director…you seem so very adamant to protect this child…I wonder why that is…" Something about the change of tone in the director's voice caused the young girl to look up at his face. What she saw there made her instantly wish that she hadn't. He was staring at her with a cruel and twisted smile that only spread when he read the terror clear on her face.

"You know…I believe that the project needs to be moved forward as quickly as possible. This child is the next one to be used." As he stated this, he pulled the young girl forward and again she made a small involuntary sound of pain at the stinging sensation of the man gripping her shoulder tightly. No one moved as all eyes fell upon the woman; everyone was waiting for her answer.

The young girl searched the woman's eyes for her savior, but instead she found a wall. The terror that had previously occupied the woman's face had quickly been hidden away and replaced with cold indifference. The girl felt her hopes die away as she continued to look into those eyes that didn't belong to the woman she knew and loved.

"…Prepare the chamber…" The woman said in a voice devoid of any trace of emotion. At first, nothing happened. Every researcher in the room simply stared at her in shock.

"Didn't you hear me? I said prepare the room! In addition…get guards down here to escort the girl."

"There's no need for that," The man who gripped the girl's shoulder said, "All I need is a researcher to open the door's lock for me, correct? I shall take one of your assistants here and escort this young lady myself."

"…As you wish sir."

The young girl felt everything within her die within that moment and the world around her turned black. She was dully aware of the feeling of two large hands gripping her shoulders and guiding her through the halls she had once loved. She was dully aware of a secret door opening up in the wall and the pressure on her shoulders being removed. She was dully aware of someone throwing her to the ground and the sound of a door shutting behind her cutting her off from her castle forever.

She simply sat staring at nothing for a few minutes before her brain resumed function once more. All the tears that had been numbed by the overriding fear came in a rush as she picked herself up from the floor and began to look about her surroundings through blurred vision.

It was a world of stars; a world of soft pink lights; it was a world that had the universe floating outside her window. It was an alien world that would soon become her only world.

She hated it.

She didn't want to be there.

She ran to the nearest wall and began to pound with her small fists and scream. Her tears ran down into her mouth as she screamed at the top of her lungs. She wanted someone to hear; she wanted someone to save her. She banged the glass until blood began to run down the side of her fists. Even then, she continued to pound on the glass prison.

She slammed her fist one more time until she felt her knees give way beneath her. Her hands burned, but she did nothing to stop the pain. She pulled her knees to her chest and cried until her eyes ran dry. When there were no more tears she screamed. When her voice became hoarse from overuse, she began to whisper one word over and over again as she rocked herself back and forth.

"…Mommy…"

It was the last word she said as Luka Megurine.

* * *

Luka opened her eyes slowly and stared with wide eyes at the alien device that floated above her. It gave off a bright white light that almost blinded her. She felt compelled to reach out and touch for the strange object. If only she could move her arms…

"I wouldn't bother if I were you. Your young friend already tried to escape his bonds and so far he's been unsuccessful."

Luka felt her eyes go wide at the sound of the unexpected voice. It all came back in a flood. What she had just seen in her dreams…it wasn't a dream…that was her life; she was that child.

"You looked like you were having a bad dream. If it's a side effect of the emergency tranquilization gas we'll need to look into it."

That voice again…that voice…

_"This is paradise Luka. This is freedom."_

_"Freedom? But…what does that mean?"_

_ "I guess it is kind of difficult for a child to understand. You probably think that you have freedom right now."_

_ "Well…don't I? I mean, I get to run around the lab and sometimes I get to help people with their research! Oh! And yesterday I got a big, red balloon from one of the researchers…I think his name was Mr. Sakine or something like that…"_

_ "I guess that's one way to look at freedom, but for me…freedom is…being able to dance." _

_"Dance?"_

_ "Yes. It's something that seems so mundane that we take it for granted, but being able to do these mundane things is true freedom. Being able to work, being able to go to school, being able to spend time with the one you love…those are the things that add up to true freedom."_

_ "So…you're saying that this project will allow people to have freedom?"_

_ "…That's what I hope it will do Luka…"_

Luka turned her head to look even though she already knew what she would find. The woman had aged significantly since the last time she saw her. Her hair had faded to a muted pink and wispy pieces of hair fell in her face. Her face was considerably more careworn. But her eyes remained the same. They were an eerie blue that seemed to glow even in the bright light.

For the second time that day, Luka felt hot, salty liquid begin to run down her face. Before she had been unable to name the phenomenon that was happening to her, but this time the answer came quickly to her mind.

She was crying.

She watched the woman for a few seconds longer as tears streamed openly down her face. She willed her mouth to move and form words; form questions. But she could only move her lips to form one word.

"…Mommy?"


	9. Chapter 9

Luka's vision blurred further as her six year old mind kept repeating her last conscious thought.

"Mommy…Mommy…Mommy!"

With each reiteration of the word, Luka's voice became more strained and panicked. The woman continued to stare at her with cold eyes that betrayed nothing of her inner thoughts. It was the exact same expression Luka saw on her face before she was condemned to her prison of freedom.

"Mommy…" Luka finished quietly as her heart beat erratically in her chest. In that moment she felt so many emotions that her six year old mind recognized the meaning of; she was frightened, she was happy, she was sad, she was distressed. The castle walls she had unconsciously erected over the past fourteen years began to crumble under the onslaught of her newly discovered emotions.

"…I believe you have me confused with someone else," The woman said calmly as she walked over to the table that Luka was tied to, "I have no daughter."

Luka felt her eyes go wide in shock as she watched the woman nonchalantly check the needle that was inserted into Luka's arm. Luka couldn't believe what the woman had just told her; It was true that the last time she saw her mother was when she was six years old, but there was no way her memory was wrong…was there?

"Do you know why you have been removed from your solitude after so many years?" The woman asked as she turned her back to Luka to once more look at a nearby monitor. Luka gave no response; she was too busy frantically analyzing the woman's voice. Although she sounded worn out, Luka could clearly distinguish the sound of her mother's voice from six years ago.

"The experiments are nearing an end and accordingly we must move on to the next stage. Currently, the IV that is inserted into your arm is injecting you with an agent that will stop you from aging; you will stay your current age forever," The woman said everything monotonously and she refused to turn around and face Luka, "In addition, you shall receive your new identity."

The words meant nothing to her; Luka's thoughts were consumed with figuring the identity of this woman. As she continued to ponder, the woman walked over to her with a needle in her hand before she deftly inserted it into Luka's shoulder. A few moments later, Luka felt her mind start to slip away as a feeling of warm numbness washed over her.

"…Mommy…" She whispered as she stared at the woman as everything else faded away. She could no long read the expression on her face but she could tell that the woman was staring at her with her large blue eyes.

"…You are not my daughter. My daughter Luka died fourteen years ago. You are just a number. You are CV-03."

* * *

The woman watched as 03 fell asleep before she turned on her heel and exited the room. Her footsteps echoed hollowly against the silent halls as she made her way to another room that was not far from the room she had just left. The door slid open with a small sound as all eyes in the room turned to look at her. She met no one's eyes as she walked through the room and sat in a chair near one of the large screens in the room.

A man was already sitting in a nearby chair intently watching the image on the screen. The woman watched as several researchers approached the young girl that lay asleep on the table. The woman could have easily claimed that the girl were dead where it not for the multitude of machines that informed the researchers that the girl's heart continued to beat. She watched as the researchers approached the girl and began to disinfect an area on her upper arm.

They were about to brand her with the mark of her new life.

"I'm glad to see that your dedication to the project stands even when your daughter is the subject," The man said as the woman sat down next to him.

"You heard what I said. It is no longer my daughter," The woman answered levelly as she continued to watch the spectacle unfold on screen. Several researchers had pulled out needles and were beginning to poke them into her upper arm. The tattooing process had begun.

"So what are the future plans for this project? I know that you have continually assured me that the project is fine, but the breakdown of 03 would suggest otherwise," The man said pointedly as he continued to stare fixedly at the screen that glowed in front of him.

"My previous decision was incorrect and I take full responsibility for my actions," The woman responded as she too continued to stare at the screen, "02-L and 03 will be separated and the experiment will continue on as normal."

"I'm glad that you've finally found reason," The man said as he took his eyes away from the screen and started at the woman, "I was beginning to worry that your judgment was becoming clouded by petty things such as human emotions."

"…I understand just how important this project is and I shall do everything in my power to see that it is successful."

"Then you have already begun administration of the anti-aging agent and the final dose of the psyche suppression drug?"

"Of course sir."

The man stood up with a wide grin and gave the woman an encouraging pat on the shoulder before he began to walk out of the room. "I'm glad that you understand the importance of this project. It's for the freedom of everyone after all. What does it matter if it needs to be built upon the back of a few children? They are a small and necessary sacrifice. You should be proud of the amount you've contributed to this project." The man's words were directed at the woman who continued to sit in the chair and stare at the screen, but he spoke loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear.

It was only after the woman heard the sound of the door closing behind the man that she allowed her death grip to loosen on the arm of her chair. A few nail marks were left from where she was tightly gripping the arm during the entire conversation. Free from the glaring eyes of her supervisor, she felt herself slump into her chair as her energy gave out.

Her hand instantly went to the pocket in her lab coat as she dug frantically for the round familiar object. Her anxiety abated slightly as she gripped the object and pulled it out of her pocket. She laid the simple coin in her palm and stared at it intently for a moment.

The side she was currently staring at displayed two individuals standing back to back. The woman couldn't help but recall how her mother had explained to her once when she was a child that the two individuals in the picture were lovers that had angered a god and were cursed to never touch one another again or look upon their lover. When she was young, she had thought the story to be terribly sad, but her mother had explained that the two lovers didn't need to see each other to love one another. The two of them remained forever together, standing back to back for eternity, being each other's strength.

The woman flipped the coin to the other side.

The other side depicted a scene of tranquil nature. It was a world lush with vegetation and free of any human interference. It was unlike anything the woman had ever seen in reality; it was a utopia of nature. Even though the picture was simply etched into a coin, it seemed to call all that looked at it into a realm of isolation and rest.

The woman took her finger and traced the contours of the Eden contained on the coin. It was so easy to imagine the perfect paradise, but significantly harder to define and make into a reality. She continued to trace the lines of the dream she had been chasing for so long. It seemed so close and so far away…

The woman flipped the coin over.

"…I leave everything to you…Len…please…please save my daughter Luka…"

* * *

Even though the edges of his conscious were fuzzy from the drug they had injected him with, Len's thoughts continued to buzz angrily within his skull. So much information had been thrown at him in such a short amount of time that he wasn't sure if he could comprehend it all at once. The effects of the drugs weren't helping his situation either.

Len looked weakly about him at the guards that flanked him on both sides. The men were large and each had at least one visible gun. In his current state, Len could do little more than shuffle his feet and walk obediently between them. But although his body was unable to contemplate escape, his mind was working endlessly.

After all, he had made a promise.

With every hallway they passed through, Len would loll his head slightly to the side to commit the general shape of the hallway to his mind. He tried his best to keep track of the many turns they took and look for any door that looked even remotely like it lead to the outside. As the information continued to compound upon itself in his mind, Len felt his thoughts wander to the encounter that had happened what seemed like a lifetime ago.

* * *

"You see…I hold your future in my hands."

The woman had said that with a completely serious face. She wasn't kidding; she honestly believed that she had exclusive control over Len's future.

"Shut the hell up you bitch," Len spat as he glared at her with all the hatred he could muster, "I don't need your help. I'll escape by myself." It was a challenge to the woman; he wanted to know just how serious she was. Now that she knew he had plans to escape, would she kill him?

_Like hell I'll ever let that happen!_ Len thought as he continued to stare down the woman.

"You're much quicker to anger than I had originally thought," The woman commented, "I suppose in a sense I should be grateful. It was due to your hostility that a part of 03's memory was awoken and I was able to reach you in order to speak with you once again."

"Once 'again'? What the hell do you mean by that? I've never had the _pleasure_ of meeting you before."

The woman said nothing, but in one movement, she pulled something from her pocket and held it out in her palm for Len to see. Overwhelmed with curiosity, Len looked at her palm and felt his eyes go wide in shock.

Lying there innocently was the coin that he had received from the woman that came to the herb stall.

For the first time, Len looked up and examined the woman's face. Her most striking feature instantly caught his attention; her eyes. They were blue and seemed to glow slightly. He had seen those eyes recently; he had seen those eyes in two places in fact.

They were the eyes of the girl from the room of freedom; they were the eyes of the woman that came to the stall.

"No…it was you?" Len managed quietly, "It wasn't the girl…it was you."

"That's correct," The woman said as she placed the coin back into her pocket, "I believe I asked you not to hate her; it seems you failed in that regard."

"I don't hate her!" Len called back defensively, "I was just pissed off and wanted answers…which you're going to give me now!"

The woman's face filled with an ironical smile. "You do realize that you're the one tied down to a laboratory table, correct? I don't really believe that you're in a position to make demands."

Len ground his teeth in frustration as he once again attempted to twist his wrists at a desperate attempt at freedom. He found to his mounting annoyance that the bonds would not be broken.

"I'm a very busy woman, I haven't come here to exchange pleasantries with you," The woman said as she began to pace around the room, "I have come here to offer you a deal."

"A deal?"

"Correct. Currently, I have replaced all monitors on this room with a false image and informed all other researchers to concentrate on 03 since it is more damaged than you are. You will only have one chance to take my offer. Once I leave this room, the offer is over. But, if you agree, I suppose I can reveal a little about what has happened to you. Do you understand?"

Len couldn't stand the superior tone the woman was taking, but he bit back his biting comment and simply responded with "Fine, I'm listening."

"Good," The woman said with a nod of her head as if she already knew how Len was going to answer, "You are currently detained in a research facility that exists outside a controlled environment area known as Crypton. Experimentation has been taking place in this facility for several years and we have been keeping close watch over the residents of Crypton to ensure that they do not escape."

Len felt his head buzz with this new information that had just been supplied to him. He had hoped that hearing what this woman had to say would provide him with answers, but her only found more questions. 'Research facility'? Crypton? 'Ensure that they do not escape'?

The woman continued on oblivious to Len's confused nature. "The ultimate goal of this project is to reach a state of utopia for the individuals of Crypton; we will do anything to achieve this goal. It was many years ago that my predecessor suggested a project to help the realization of this utopia. It is known simply as CODE: VOCALOID."

"And I somehow got involved in this project? What the hell did I do to deserve this!"

"You were not picked at random. Every child that has become involved in this project has a very clear connection; their parents were involved with the project."

Len felt his sight fail him for a moment. His parents had been researchers at this twisted facility? There was no way that could be right…

"I can tell by your expression that you don't believe me, but I speak the truth. When you and your sister were born, your parents knew what your ultimate fate would be, so they escaped with you and your sister in hopes of saving you; the effort was futile. The facility has always known where you live and your parents simply helped them to gather more data."

"Gather more data?"

"Yes, the higher ups were interested if children that lead 'normal' lives could eventually be conditioned for use in the project. If you prove to be effective, we are free to kidnap children as we see fit to further the interests of our project."

Len felt sick to his stomach as the woman continued to talk in her level and controlled voice. Her heels clicked on the floor as she continued to pace about the room. She never once looked in his direction, but Len could feel each word she spoke tear a little further at the reality that he had always known.

"…This is where you come in," The woman said as she suddenly stopped pacing and turned to look at him, "I want you to make me a promise."

"And why should I trust you?"

"Because if you don't, you a resigning yourself to become a byproduct of the experiment and as a result you lose your humanity. You will be known as nothing more than a device for all eternity. You won't even be granted the grace of death because you will continue to prove useful to future generations. In a twisted way, I suppose you will find 'freedom' from death and worry."

"So either way, I'm screwed in the end."

"Not really, if you take my deal you have at least a small chance of escape."

Len's mind began to work through all the alternatives but any way he looked at it, the only option he had was to take the woman's deal.

"…Fine…" Len finally admitted grudgingly, "I'll play your little game. What is it that you want?"

"I want you to escape with Luka."

"…What?"

"I've done everything I can to keep her safe over the last few years, but things are quickly spiraling out of my control."

"_Protecting_ her!" Len said incredulously, "Leaving her alone in a room to rot is _protecting_ her?"

"What was I supposed to do!" The woman yelled back, her voice rising for the first time, "If I resisted their attempts to use her in the project, she would have simple been killed on the spot! All I've been able to do is make her time of imprisonment more comfortable as I watch unable to help her in the slightest…" By the end of her sentence, the woman's voice dropped to little more than a whisper. She was staring intently at the ground and tightly gripping her hands.

"So…" Len said slowly as he began to work it out in his head, "The reason she's been getting food and a bed and stuff like that is because you've been giving it to her?"

"That's correct," The woman said as she gained control of her voice once more, "Everyone in this project is supposed to be slowly weaned off human comforts such as warm food and a place to sleep. I couldn't watch her go through that…nor could I watch her slowly lose her soul."

"Lose her soul?"

"Over the course of the project, subjects are to be knocked out through that gas you experienced earlier and removed from the room so they can be regularly injected with a psyche suppressant drug in order for them to be easier to control. In this case, I've been watering down her dosage so that in the end she actually receives very little. Of course I can't stop it all from getting into her…"

"So that's the reason she seems so out of it."

"Yes, but with the project progressing, things are quickly getting out of my control. The higher ups are paying more attention to this project and they will certainly start to notice that things are amiss. That's why I brought you to her."

"Brought me to her?" Len echoed. He thought bitterly for a moment how he sounded like a parrot, but he instantly decided that if he had to parrot the woman to get answers he would.

"When you passed out on the ground, you fell deep within your subconscious and you should have died there. Instead, I had you brought to this facility and I performed what is known as a psyche dive in order to pull you from your comatose state. But unbeknownst to everyone, I gave you the coin."

"And what exactly makes the coin so important?"

"Engraved into it is the coordinates of the room you ended up in. In addition, I implanted a tiny transfer device that would send you there."

"Transfer device? What the hell are you talking about? Quit making shit up!" Len finally had enough. He was through listening to the ravings of a mad woman.

"I know that this all seems impossible to you, but outside of Crypton, this technology is actually quite common. The executives felt that is would be more effective for us to keep the masses away from any technology that may assist in their escape."

Len's head spun as he tried to wrap his mind around everything he had just been told. Essentially, this woman had just told him that his entire existence was a lie. Everything he had thought to be true was quickly being revealed to be nothing more than an elaborate lie.

"So," The woman said after a pregnant pause, "Do we have a deal?"

"…All I have to do is help Luka to escape?"

"Correct."

"…I was planning on helping her escape anyways, so we have a deal."

* * *

"Get in there!"

Len was jolted from his memory by a strong push on his back. His drug impaired feet made it difficult to maintain his balance as he stumbled slightly from the bush. Before he fell to the ground, he felt a gruff hand grab him by his collar and practically throw him through the doorway.

His head and shoulder hit the ground hard and Len felt a dull throb of pain shoot through his body. His hand unconsciously went to pick at the bandages that covered his upper arm. It was the area where they had tattooed his arm with a number that burned like liquid fire.

02

He closed his eyes as he willed the sudden sick feeling that fell on his stomach to abate. After a few moments of quiet recollection of his senses, he opened his eyes once more.

He was greeted with a room quite different than the one he had shared with Luka.

The room was also a simple cube made of glass, but the images outside were decidedly different. Whereas before the sky outside had been filled with stars and skyscrapers and the room had glowed with a pink light, this room had a sky that was a warm and clear blue with a few puffy clouds floating lazily through the sky and the room glowed with a soft yellow light. To Len, it felt almost as if he was floating.

Quickly pulling his eyes away from the unnatural tranquility of the room, he pulled himself to his feet with no small effort. He stood up and began to look around the room.

"If that woman wasn't lying," He said quietly to himself, "Something should happen soon…"

As soon as the words escaped his lips, he heard a soft sound. When he turned around, a door had slid open on one of the walls. Where had once been clear blue sky now stood a gaping maw of blackness. Len stared at it for a few moments before he took a few tentative steps towards the pathway that seemed to lead to a hell of darkness.

When he reached the doorway, Len took one step inside and tried to see further down the tunnel, but the effort was futile; it was pitch black. Len felt a sigh escape his lips as he took another step into the darkness.

"This is completely idiotic…" Len mumbled to himself as he stumbled through the darkness and paralyzing effects of the drug, "I have no reason to trust that woman…"

But Len felt guilt stab his heart as he thought about what he had done to Luka. The last time he saw her, she had been terrified of him; he had made her cry in fear. The image of her blue eyes begging him to stop was burned into his heart. He was the first person that she had come in contact with over the past sixteen years and the first thing he did was push her away.

"Dammit…" Len swore under his breath as his footing failed him and he landed heavily against a wall causing his shoulder to burn once more. The drugs were slowly working their way through his system.

"I just…have to keep going," Len said through ground teeth as he walked slowly along using the wall for support, "I have to find her…and apologize. Then, we're going to escape; we're going to escape together and we're going to be free."

* * *

**A/N:** Don't worry, next chapter there will be cute things. But in the meantime, I hope you enjoy.


	10. Chapter 10

It was dark. It burned. She stumbled on as her feet dragged her to a destination unknown. Her footfalls were eerily silent almost as if the darkness consumed the sound as soon as it was made. For that reason, she couldn't stop herself from heading toward the only sound she could hear. In this world of blackness and emptiness, the small voice that floated through the ether of darkness was the only shred of reality she could find.

Her steps mounted to an uncountable number as her body continued to move of its own will. Her body desperately wanted to find the source of the noise. It would mean she was no longer alone; it would mean there would be something else in this world besides her. Her body struggled desperately on as her mind remained empty and hollow, completely indifferent to whatever action her body was taking.

With every step she took, the fire in her upper arm seemed to spread further into her body until every footfall burned through every inch of her, yet still she pressed on searching for the voice. The pain was slowly becoming unbearable but her body almost maniacally continued toward the voice.

Then suddenly, an area before her that had been nothing but pitch black mere moments ago was suddenly filled with a young girl who knelt on the ground. Her face was buried in her palms as she emitted a soft noise; it was the noise that Luka had been chasing through the blackness this entire time. She realized for the first time that the sound was of someone softly crying. Luka stared at the girl that looked oddly familiar before she took a tentative step forward.

The girls head shot up as if Luka's footstep had been a thunderclap. She stared horrified at the older girl that seemed to loom menacingly over her. Luka lowered herself gently to her knees so that she was on the same level as the little girl. The little girl followed her descent with her eyes and continued to stare fixatedly at the older woman.

Luka opened her mouth to speak with the girl. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to say, but she had struggled through the burning pain in her shoulder to find this girl and she understood innately that if she didn't talk to her, there could be terrible side effects. But when she willed herself to talk, no noise came out.

She closed her mouth once more and gently raised her hands to her throat. What was wrong? She opened her mouth once more but was again greeted with silence.

"It won't work…" a soft voice commented.

Luka looked over to the young girl and found that she was now standing. The terrified look that was on her face had been replaced with something that almost resembled pity.

"It won't work," The girl repeated, "When mommy turned on us, you lost the sense of identity you've been clinging to for these past fourteen years. You lost me."

Luka's eyes went wide as she finally recognized the young girl for the first time.

It was herself.

It was herself when she was just six years old.

Luka violently shook her head in a vain attempt to ward off the demon of her past that plagued her. She didn't need the past; she had spent so many years building up her walls so that she wouldn't be hurt; she had prepared herself so that when she saw her mother again she would feel nothing.

"You tried to get rid of me," The young girl stated, "But somewhere deep within you, you still clung desperately to your six year old self; you couldn't stop yourself from hoping that mommy would come and save you. Now that you know it will never come true, you've just given up."

_No! No!_ Luka screamed in her head as her hands gripped her skull. She wanted to shake the demon loose; she didn't want to listen to its lies. She had been strong! She didn't need mommy to save her! She was happy! She was free!

"…All that stuff you're thinking isn't true." Luka looked up once more at her six year old self. The young girl was standing directly above her and staring with blank eyes that seemed only to reflect the world around her, giving nothing away about the child inside. In pained Luka to look into those eyes.

"We need mommy, mommy's gone, we should just give up, there's no point in struggling. Everything I've ever held dear has abandoned me."

_But…but what about what _I _hold dear?_ Luka thought desperately.

The little girl gave a sad shake of her head, "You don't hold anything dear. You were so busy building walls to hide me away that you never took the time to find anything."

_That…that can't be true…_ Luka thought weakly to herself. But try as she might to rack her brain she couldn't think of anything that she honestly held dear. The food she was provided with she simply viewed as nourishment, the clothing was something she wore out of habit, she didn't care to ever look at the view outside her imprisonment.

_It's true_ She thought as she felt her heart stop cold in her chest _I…don't have anything to hold dear. Mommy…mommy was my last hope…and now…now she's abandoned me forever…I'm not even…her daughter…_

The darkness that had seemed to loom just out of reach descended like a fog on Luka's vision. She felt her heart begin to slow in her chest as all strength left her body. The only thing she could feel any longer was the burning sensation on her arm where they had branded her.

03

It was the mark that had stolen everything away; after all, she was no longer Luka Megurine. She was now a number; a human machine that had no identity and no emotions to cloud her judgment; a perfect product of an experiment. She would have no worries, she would experience no pain, she would never be 'unhealthy', she would live forever in perfect tranquility.

She was free.

* * *

"Dammit!" Len swore as his strength once more gave out on him and he slammed his shoulder into the wall. He gave a grim smile; he was almost starting to get used to this routine. He had been struggling through the pitch black for what felt like an eternity. Luckily, just as the woman had promised, there were no turns or directions for Len to pick.

"That doesn't make me any more comfortable trusting her…" Len mumbled to himself, "For all I know she could be sending me to my death."

Quickly pushing away the thought, Len continued to struggle on through the dark. After a few moments longer, his struggle was rewarded when he heard the soft sound of a door sliding open. The wall which had previously been little more than a black void suddenly had an opening to a room.

Even without looking inside, Len could tell that it was the room Luka was imprisoned in; the soft pink light that radiated from the now open doorway instantly informed him of that fact.

Len felt his heart pound fast in his chest as he quickened his footsteps toward the door. He was so close to his goal! Only a few more steps and he would find Luka. Once he explained the situation to her, the two of them would wait for the opportunity the woman had promised to provide them and then they would make their escape. As Len finally rounded the doorway, he felt hope rise within his chest that felt as sweet as the freedom he was about to obtain.

What he saw in the room brought everything crashing around him.

The view outside the glass imprisonment which had at one time been filled with stars and skyscrapers had gone eerily blank. Len couldn't help but feel a wave of emptiness wash over him as he looked at the emptiness that dominated the room. The pink lights that hung on the wall had been dimmed considerably to the point that Len could barely see into the room.

He took a few slow steps in as his eyes adjusted to the new lighting. What he saw there made his heart sink even further.

Curled up in the corner sat Luka. Her face was buried in her knees and she didn't move in the slightest. In all honesty, she looked like a broken doll that had been carelessly thrown away. He mustered his energy and ran over to her as quickly as his drug impaired body would allow.

When he reached her, he quickly grabbed her shoulders which caused the girl to give out an involuntary gasp of pain. Len quickly released her as his mind instantly flew to the incident that had happened last time he shook Luka. The young girl began to play with her upper arm but she refused to lift her face from her knees. Len felt his eyes wander to the girl's arm. Much like his own arm, hers was covered in sterile dressing.

They had branded her too.

"Hey…are you alright?" Len said as he tried to keep his voice level and clam. The last thing he wanted was another instance of him losing his temper and destroying any chance the two of them had for escape. He could just take her in her current state, but he knew that he wouldn't get far if Luka acted as deadweight and there was no way in hell he was going to leave her behind. No, if he wanted to escape he would have to get Luka to respond to him.

"Hey…" He tried once more as he gently touched the shoulder that the injury to her arm wasn't on. The girl physically recoiled at his touch but her head remained buried in her knees.

"Come on…what's wrong with you?" Len asked as his voice began to fade. His sight was fading fast as the final effects of the drugs took over. In his mind, he fought endlessly against the drugs, but it was a battle that he was quickly losing. He felt his strength give out as his vision began to narrow.

"Tell me what's wrong…" He managed with a barely audible voice, "Come on…Luka…"

It was only at that moment that the young girl lifted her head and locked eyes with Len. What he saw there made his heart stop within his chest.

Her eyes were empty.

She truly was a broken doll.

With that as his final thought, Len watched as the world went dark and the last thing he saw before he lost himself to the blackness was the glowing blue eyes of what once was a human girl.

* * *

There was something there.

Luka lifted her head, but the only one that greeted her was the young girl that had stood over her the whole time. But the surprising thing was that instead of staring at her, the young girl was looking around frantically. Luka could sense the panic that was radiating off the girl's body as she took a few small steps backwards from Luka.

"What?...This can't be right!" The girl said in a voice laced with horror. Her eyes darted frantically around as she hugged her arms to herself.

Luka wanted to ask what was wrong but found that her voice would still not work. She simply stood and took a few tentative steps towards the young girl. The girl's eyes flew to where Luka stood and on her face was a look that went beyond horror.

"No! NO! You can't! You can't!" She screamed as tears began to fall down her face. She clenched her tiny fists and took a few steps further back as she continued to stare horrified at her older self.

_What's wrong?_ Luka thought worriedly as she took a few steps closer to the little girl.

The girl screamed. There were no coherent words, just pure, raw terror. Luka felt a shiver of fear run through her in sympathy with the little girl.

"NO NO NO!" The girl screamed once she found her voice, "You can't! You can't find a reason to live!"

_Find a reason to live?_ Luka puzzled to herself _But I…_

With that thought, the darkness of the world was suddenly softened as a shaft of light shot from the floor. Luka watched in wonder as the light quickly spread dispelling the heavy darkness wherever it touched. All too soon, it became too much for Luka to handle and she shielded her eyes as the light engulfed both her and the young girl.

When the light seemed to abate slightly, Luka opened her eyes and felt her eyes go wide with wonder. Above her, there stood a blue expanse filled with puffy white things that floated listlessly through the warm air. Soft green blades brushed against her legs as she looked about in wonder.

_Sky; clouds; grass _Luka's mind instantly informed her.

There was also a smell that pervaded through everything. It was warm and inviting; it was something that Luka had smelled only once when she was a child before she was shut away in the facility. But…it was also something she had smelled recently.

_Earth_ her mind chimed in once more, but it hesitated to inform her where she had smelled it recently. She felt herself fall further into her mind as she searched relentlessly for the memory that was just beyond her reach.

"NO!" Luka's thoughts were shattered by the sound of a young voice calling frantically. She realized for the first time that her younger self was still standing there crying and yelling. Her face was tearstained and she looked at Luka with both fear and pleading in her eyes.

"Don't! If you remember…if you re-find a purpose…I'm going to be thrown away…or…or buried again! When you tried to get rid of me it was dark! It was so dark! I don't, I don't want to go back!" The girl once more broke down into great heaving sobs as Luka watched her cry.

"Luka…"

A voice. It was a voice she recognized instantly. It seemed to come from the sky. She looked up and noticed for the second time how blue the sky was.

Blue…like his eyes.

"…Len?" She whispered quietly.

Her word was instantly cut off from a blood curdling scream from the young girl. Luka looked towards her to find that she had fallen on the ground and she was beginning to pull blades of grass from the ground in a frenzy. Luka did the first thing that came to mind; she ran to the young girl and took her in her arms.

As Luka held her, her younger self continued to cry heavily, but now she was repeating one word over and over and over.

"Mommy…"

"I…I won't bury you," Luka said in a quiet voice as she rocked slightly back and forth with the girl in her arms, "I thought…I thought that I had to throw away everything so that I didn't have to suffer. I thought that by burying myself it would be easier to deal with life; with the thought that mommy had abandoned me. But in the end, all I did was lie to myself and pretend that you didn't exist, right?"

The girl's sobs died down considerably as she gave a slight nod of her head and continued to repeat the word that was the most important to her in the entire world.

"And…and now that you have someone else to live for," The girl said quietly after a few moments, "You're going to bury me again, right? There's only room for one important thing in your heart."

"…Of course I'm not going to bury you. Before, I was relentlessly seeking one thing; surviving. I had convinced myself that I had found freedom; I didn't have to worry about finding a purpose in my life because the only thing I needed to do was survive. But now, I know better."

As Luka finished her sentence, she untangled the little girl from her arms and began to wipe the tears away from her face. She gave a warm smile as she brushed some of the wet bangs out of the little girl's face.

"Now, I have something important that I want to protect; actually I have two very important things that I want to protect."

"Mommy…?" The little girl asked quietly as she met her older self's eyes.

Luka gave a small nod and her face lit with a smile, "and Len."

The little girl looked uncertain for a moment before she gave a slow nod of her head. Luka returned the nod and took her younger's self's hand. For a reason she didn't quite understand, the two of them stood together and stood back to back. It felt like the right thing to do. Luka felt her younger self squeeze her hand as a confirmation that she was thinking the same thing.

No longer two broken halves of one person, they stood together ready to fight for their freedom or die trying.

* * *

Luka felt her vision slowly come back into focus as the emptiness in her heart seemed to abate a bit. She wasn't quite sure what had just happened, she only knew that there was a lingering warm feeling in her chest that almost caused her to smile.

Suddenly she became aware of another fact. Something heavy was lying across her and blonde hair was sticking in her eyes.

"Len…?" She asked quietly to the silence of the room. She was given no answer to her question as the young boy continued to lie unconscious.

Luka felt a small trill of panic run through her as she gently moved the young boy off of her. From what she could tell, he simply seemed to be sleeping but his face was contorted almost as if he was having a nightmare.

"Len…" She repeated his name again. She could tell that inside her, something important had changed, but she couldn't quite find the words to describe it. It almost felt as if some sort of superficial barrier had been removed but those words seemed inadequate to describe the feeling. Luka only knew one thing for sure.

Len had been the cause of the change.

Before he came along, she had been trapped in not only a prison of glass, but also a prison of her mind. She had pushed away anything that resembled human emotion believing it to only cause her pain and discomfort. She had honestly believed for fourteen years of her life the lies she kept feeding herself.

Then Len came barging into her life. He was loud, honest, short tempered and willing to act on any emotion that stuck him. It was unlike anything Luka had seen in her life. Despite her subconscious' best attempt to push away the change, it had slowly come over her. He made her question whether it was right that she was kept locked away, he made her question whether there wasn't something beyond this room of stars, he made her question whether freedom could truly be found in imprisonment.

"…Thank you…" Luka finally said in a quiet voice. She wanted to say so much more, but in that moment it felt like the right thing to do.

Before she really had time to think about it, she took Len's head in her lap and began to hum a lullaby. It was a song that her mother had sung for her once and it was something she held terribly precious. As the notes slowly escaped her throat and filled the void of the room, she felt complete for the first time.

* * *

**A/N**: See? Just a little bit of cute this time. In other news, I want to take this time to thank all the reviewers. If it wasn't for you guys, this story most likely would have never found its way out of my head and on to paper. Thank you!


	11. Chapter 11

A soft sound floated through the air as Len continued to sleep on oblivious to the world around him. The sound seemed to wrap around him and swaddle him in a cocoon of warmth and acceptance. He was so comfortable; he could have easily stayed asleep for the rest of his life. As the notes continued to flood into him, he couldn't help but feel an odd sense of nostalgia wash over him.

The song that the voice was humming was familiar to him. It was a song his mother had sang to him every night before he went to bed. He could remember his younger self struggling against the inviting lull of sleep in an attempt to stay up longer and listen to the quiet singing of his mother. The memory was so old and unimpressive that he was surprised he remembered it at all.

The notes began to grow quieter as the singer reached the end of the song. When he was a child, this was the part of the song that he never got to hear because sleep would always claim him. He fought against the overriding feeling of drowsiness as he slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was large blues eyes looking down at him with concern clear in their blue expanse.

"…Mom?" Len's mouth formed the question before his mind had time to process all the incidents that had recently happened to him. For one moment, he was a child once more, back in his small house with his mother humming a lullaby to her children to chase away the demons of the night. As the singer's voice suddenly cut off, reality came crashing back around Len.

As he looked up at the owner of the blue eyes, he noticed for the first time that she had long pink hair that fell in waves about her quite different from his mother's short, cropped blonde hair. This girl also looked to be much younger than his mother; she must have been in her late teens if not early twenties. Whoever she was, there was one thing for sure; even though she was singing her lullaby, this woman was not his mother.

"…Are you alright?"

Len's evaluation of the girl was broken by the sound of her voice. It was only then that he realized something. His head was currently resting on the girl's lap.

Len pushed himself quickly off her lap and felt his cheeks burn in response to the close proximity he had been with this mysterious woman that knew his mother's lullaby. The flush of embarrassment quickly died away as he realized once more where he was.

He was in the room of "freedom" that had once been filled with a vision of the stars. The scene outside the four glass walls was now filled with a void of black nothingness that seemed to steal away any light that dared to encounter it. Even looking at it, Len could feel pieces of his human hope begin to fade away.

"…Len?"

It was only when the girl uttered his name that he remembered her presence in the room. He turned around slowly and deliberately in order to get a better look at the girl. She was standing at this point, causing her long pink hair to brush lightly against the glass floor beneath her.

"…Luka?" He echoed with the name that he now recognized belonged to this girl. She definitely looked like Luka but, what seemed like mere moments ago, he had lost all hope of reaching her. Now this girl stood in front of him with more life in her eyes than he ever imagined Luka capable of having.

"…Yes," The girl said quietly after a few moments, "I'm, I'm…'Luka'."

Then the girl did something Len wasn't expecting; she began to cry. But what was even more surprising was the fact that her tears were broken by the sound of gentle laughter bubbling from her throat. To Len, it almost sounded as if the girl was relieved of a great burden for the first time.

"I'm Luka…I'm Luka now," The girl managed through her laughter and tears. After a few moments of staring at the display, Len walked over to the girl and did the first thing that came to mind. He pulled Luka into a hug. He was significantly shorter than Luka, so he stood on his tiptoes in order to allow her to rest her head on his shoulder.

"You've always been Luka," Len mumbled into her hair, "You were just…lost for a little bit."

He felt Luka give a nod of her head into her shoulder as her crying began to die down completely to the point where only simple soft laughter remained. As she continued, her laughter seemed to trill through the air and fill the dark void of the now empty blackness of the world. Before he really realized what was going on, Len found himself laughing along with her.

The two of them parted from their hug as they both fell to the floor with laughter. Neither knew what they were laughing about, but neither of them could bring themselves to stop. The laughter seemed to tie the two of them together in moment of carefree childishness. In that moment, there wasn't a need to escape, there wasn't a mystery of life that needed to be solved; there was simply a boy and a girl sharing the same laughter for no reason.

After a few more warm moments, the laughter died down and neither of them were quite sure how to proceed. The last time they had seen each other, Luka had been terrified of the freedom obsessed individual Len had become. Now that the initial relief of finding one another died down, an awkward silence descended between the two of them.

Len took this time to evaluate Luka once more. There was something definitely different about her. It took Len a few moments of searching before he realized what had changed so drastically since the last time he saw her.

It was her eyes.

What before had seemed so hollow and empty now shone with the tiniest spark of life. It wasn't as if her eyes were suddenly flaming with the desire to escape, but the light that shone in her eyes was honestly beautiful.

As that word crossed Len's mind, he quickly looked away from the older girl as his cheeks turned decidedly red. He took a breath to clear his head and then began his speech that he had been planning his entire walk through the dark winding hallways.

"I'm sorry…" He began as he looked down at the black glass floor, "I shouldn't have lost my temper like I did and it was really stupid of me. I'm always rushing into things headfirst and all I end up doing is dragging myself and the people around me into a lot of deep shit. I don't pay attention to people around me and I only think of myself an-"

Len's rambling apology was cut off by a soft pressure on his shoulder. When he looked down, he found that Luka's hand was resting gently on his shoulder almost as if affirming for him that all was forgiven and there was no reason for him to apologize. His mind instantly flew back to the last time Luka had tried to comfort him in this same way. Then he had slapped away her hand violently; this time he simply looked up from her small hand to look at her face.

"Thank you," She said quietly as Len met her eyes.

"Thank you?" Len echoed as he looked at her in bewilderment, "What the hell do you have to thank me for? All I've done since I've met you is cause nothing but trouble."

"No, you're wrong," Luka responded with a slow and deliberate shake of her head, "I have to thank you for…for being yourself…for allowing me to find…myself."

Luka finished her sentence quietly before she gave a slow and unsure nod that was quickly followed by a much more self-assured bob of her head. Her resolution finally reached, a smile lit her entire face. Len felt his eyes spread slightly in surprise as he looked at the girl that seemed to radiate with happiness.

When he first met her, he thought that Luka would forever remain as she was; emotionless and empty. But as he looked at the girl's smile that glowed with almost childlike wonder, he couldn't help but realize how much she had truly changed.

He also realized for the first time how pretty she looked when she smiled.

Len quickly looked down at the floor and broke eye contact with the girl that he suddenly felt ridiculously more uncomfortable around. He cleared his throat and voiced the one thought that dominated his mind.

"You're so weird."

"…Weird?" He heard Luka reply in a confused voice that was so familiar to him he couldn't help but smile.

"Ah, there's the Luka I know; confused about even the most basic things," Len responded as he turned to once more look at Luka. Her radiant smile had been replaced with deep confusion as she tried her best to puzzle though Len's words.

Len realized for the first time how adorable she looked when she made that face.

"E-enough of this for now," Len said more hastily than need be as he stood up from the floor, "We've got to prepare ourselves for our escape."

"Escape? We're going to escape?" Luka asked as she also raised herself from the floor. Worry and confusion was clear in her voice, but buried beneath it all there was the tiniest hint of hopefulness. Hope was an emotion that Luka had been completely without for sixteen years that she now clung to desperately.

"Of course we are, that's been the plan all along," Len replied as his face turned grim and determined. He didn't mention the fact that in his original plan when he had first showed up in the room, he had been ready to leave Luka behind if need be; now whenever the thought crept into his mind, he silenced it immediately.

Maybe he had changed a little too.

"But…" Luka asked hesitantly, "How do you plan on doing that?"

"She didn't talk to you about it?"

"'She'?"

"Yeah, there was this one scientist woman that came to see me to strike a bargain with me. She told me a lot of stuff about what's been going on, but in return she wants us to escape together. Now that I think about it…" Len said as he honestly considered for the first time how odd the whole exchange had been. Previously, he had been busy having his entire life deconstructed by one woman, "It's actually kind of odd. Why does this woman want to help you specifically?"

Len expected to hear one of Luka's usual 'I don't know' responses, but instead he was met with silence. When he turned around once more to look at this girl, she was staring at him with wide eyes. On her face was displayed such a wide range of emotions that Len couldn't even begin to name half of them.

"What's wrong?" Len asked as Luka continued to stare at him. He took a tentative step towards her which caused her to blink and lunge forward. She quickly grabbed his wrists and knelt down slightly so that she and Len were perfectly on eye level.

"Please…tell me what she looked like," She asked in a voice that wavered between hopeful and fearful.

"I don't know, she just looked like a woman. She had pink hair that was pulled back in a tight bun. And…she had eyes; she had eyes just like you…" Len finished quietly as his mind made the connection for the first time. It wasn't that they had similar eyes; almost everything about them looked the same; their facial structure, their hair, their eyes.

Len realized for the first time that the woman he had been talking to was Luka's mother.

"Mommy…" He heard Luka say as he was pulled from his realization by the sound of her voice. Silent tears were streaming down her face as she continued to grip Len's wrists. "She…she didn't…leave me behind…Mommy."

Len wasn't quite sure what to do as Luka continued to cry to herself, so he simply stood there and allowed her to cry as she continued to cling to his wrists tightly. As he looked down at the frail hands that held on to him so desperately, he felt a distinct sense of responsibility settle down on him. He silently took Luka's hands into his own as she continued to silently cry.

"We're going to get out of here," Len said seriously as he continued to hold her hands, "I promise."

* * *

The room was completely dark except for one computer screen that reflect a harsh blue light off the woman's face as she typed at the keyboard with a frenzy of flying fingers. There were many precautions to be prepared now that Len and Luka were reunited. She would have to move swiftly to keep her activities secret from everyone involved in the project.

_Alright…I've programed false images for both video feeds from the rooms. By the time they discover they even exist, the two of them will be long gone. Now I just have t-_

"My, you're quite diligent working this late into the night, aren't you Miss. Megurine?"

The woman felt her heart jump in her chest as she turned around much more swiftly than an innocent person should. She silently cursed herself; her nervous actions were making her intentions terribly transparent. She looked at the man that was standing before her and she couldn't help but curse whatever fates governed her life.

"Of course sir," She answered in the most level voice she could manage, "The project is nearing its end; I want to make sure that everything goes perfectly."

"Committed as ever, I'm glad to see that," The man responded as he walked over to look at the monitor the woman was typing at. When he looked, all he saw were images of two separate rooms containing 02-L and 03.

"May I ask why I have the honor of the Head of the Board of Directors visiting this lowly research division this late at night?" The woman asked as she typed a few commands into the keyboard behind her back. She would have to work quickly if she was to keep her secret hidden.

"Would you believe me if I told you for old time's sake?" The man asked with a twisted smile that could only be described as a mockery of happiness.

"Unfortunately, I don't find myself able to believe that."

"I suppose that's true. I've always hated being a lowly scientist; that's why I worked so hard to reach the top after the initial failure of this project."

"You mean…Leon and Lola?" The woman asked quietly as she examined the man's face.

"I have long forgotten their names, they were failures; no need to remember something like that," The man responded with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"…They were your children…your own flesh and blood…" The woman said quietly as she stared at the ground.

"They were research products that happened to share my DNA," The man responded coldly as he looked over at the woman that refused to raise her head, "I would recommend that you view 03 the same way."

"You know I already do," The woman responded without raising her head.

"That's what you've lead everyone to believe; it's what you've almost lead yourself to believe," The man said in a low voice that was dark with danger, "But we both know better. We used to be good friends when I worked in the division. You're very talented at hiding your emotions, but not that good."

There was a heavy silence as the man waited for the response of the woman. The blue light of the computer screen reflected off both figures placing them both in an odd silhouette that only increased the out of time sense of the scene. The woman remained silent for a few moments longer before she raised her head and met his eyes.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," She answered as her eyes absorbed the light emitting from the computer, "03 is nothing but a device that we will use to allow the citizens of Crypton to obtain freedom."

The man stared harshly back at her before he turned around and headed for the door. The door slid open in response to his presence, but he took no steps to leave as he continued to stand in the room with his back to the woman. The electric blue light of the computer screen shone on brightly, oblivious to the serious tone that pervaded the air.

"You can say that as many times as you want, but until you believe it it's not going to get any easier to watch your child's humanity drain away," The man spoke in a voice as hard as steel, "You had best not try anything stupid."

With his ominous warning still hanging heavy in the air, the man exited the room without another word. The woman listened to his footfalls for a few moments before the automatic door of the room closed causing them to bet cut off mid-stride. The silence that ensued was deafening.

The woman slumped down heavily as she released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Her legs shook beneath her as she realized the implications of the conversation that had just occurred.

He knew. He knew she was going to try something.

And he was going to try and stop her.

Using all the energy she had left to her, she turned toward the computer terminal once more and slowly clicked a few keys. Instantly, another image emerged showing the image of two young people on screen. She couldn't hear their voice, but from the way their mouths were moving, she could tell they were talking about something. She felt her eyebrows rise slightly as she observed something else.

The two of them were holding hands as the girl cried.

"…Please…" She whispered quietly to the image she knew couldn't hear her, "Don't fall in love…there's no kindness in this word for young love…"

Her own love; carried off to be a citizen of Crypton; her forced to remain behind due to her scientific abilities; his memory erased so that he wouldn't rebel. She carried their unborn child. When she was finally born, she snuck out from the facility to find her love, but instead she found heartbreak; he had a new life; a new family; children. There was no room in his heart for her love.

He was free of any obligations he had to her.

She continued to watch the image for a few moments longer but the two of them didn't change position. With a small sigh of resignation, she continued her preparations to assist their escape. With every new command she typed into the terminal, she could hear the ghost of her old friend's voice ringing in her ears. The words haunted her every move as her fingers carried her closer to the goal she had been chasing for fourteen years.

_"You had best not try anything stupid."_

She wanted to save the product of her young love; she wanted to save her daughter.

As the darkness slowly turned to dawn, she continued to command the world she had created and change its selfish purpose.

She was no longer seeking freedom for herself; she was seeking freedom for the one she loved.


	12. Chapter 12

"Are you…uh…feeling better?" Len asked as he stumbled over his words slightly. Luka had calmed down considerably at this point and she was no longer crying to herself. There was only one thing that bothered Len.

She still continued to cling to his hands tightly.

With every passing second, Len could feel his heart beating quicker in his chest. He knew that he had been the one to instigate the hand holding, but in that moment he had been acting on impulse; anything to stop Luka from crying. Now that the impulse had ebbed away, he couldn't help but feel awkward and uncomfortable, almost as if he was going to get in trouble if he continued to hold Luka's hands.

_This is idiotic…_ Len grumbled to himself as he waited for Luka's response, _Why am I all of a sudden so much more uncomfortable around her?_

"Thank you so much Len," He heard Luka answer in a small voice, "I was…so happy to hear that mommy still cares for me that I guess it just made me…cry…" By the end of her sentence, Luka's voice was quavering once more with the promise of more tears.

"C-Come on, you just finished crying!" Len said as he took this opportunity to remove his hands from Luka's grasp and instead place his hands on her shoulders. Luka's body instantly stiffened under his touch and she flinched so violently that it caused Len to quickly retract his hands.

"Sorry…" Len apologized as he shoved his hands down deep into the pockets of the pants he was currently wearing. She probably didn't want him touching her shoulders; it would only stand to remind her how horrible he had treated her before.

"No…I'm sorry…my body just…reacted on its own…" Luka said slowly as she looked up at Len's face. Her eyes were still puffy and red around the edges from the tears she had just cried, but her eyes were dry for the moment. Len could have sworn that in those eyes he saw a small flicker of determination.

"Mommy's going to help us escape…right?" Luka asked as she held his gaze.

Len responded with a nod of his head before he lowered himself to the floor and sat down. When he looked up at Luka, confusion was splayed clear on her face.

"Why…are you sitting down?"

"We can't do anything until your mom holds up her end of the bargain. She said that she would provide a way out for us, so I say we trust her and wait for whatever she's going to do."

"…You trust mommy?" Luka asked as she sat down not far from Len.

"I trust that she still cares for you and honestly wants to get you out of here."

"She…still…cares…" Luka said quietly as her voice wavered once more. Len could have smacked himself; he was going to make her cry again.

"Of course she does, but that's not something to cry about."

"Oh, of course it isn't…sorry…" Luka said apologetically.

"All you do is apologize now," Len responded with honest annoyance in his voice. He watched as Luka opened her mouth to speak, "And don't respond to that with 'I'm sorry'"

Luka closed her mouth once more and didn't speak a word as worry flashed across her features. Len could tell that she was frantically searching her mind for another way to apologize without actually saying 'I'm sorry'. Len couldn't help but smile to himself at the display.

Luka was silent for a moment as she continued to mull over her choice of words. Len continued to watch her as he allowed her to struggle with finding a way to apologize without actually apologizing. After a few moments, the girl raised her head and meet Len eyes. Her face was calm as if she had finally answered a question that has been plaguing her for the longest time.

"Len…" She stated in a level tone, "Will you dance with me?"

* * *

She wasn't sure what brought about the words, but the minute they left her mouth, she wished she could swallow them once more. Perhaps it was the look of complete shock that came over Len's face that made her want _anything_ to happen to break the silence that had settled after her last comment.

"I'm so-" Luka cut herself off prematurely as she remembered Len's comment earlier, "…Just forget what I said. It's not important. Let's just wait for mommy to help us."

With her comment made, Luka stood up and headed to the other corner of the room. Her soft footsteps on the floor only seemed to reinforce the silence that hung around the two of them. With each step that brought her further away from Len, Luka couldn't help but wish that Len was forgetting everything she had just said.

_Why can't I just ask him things anymore?_ Luka wondered to herself in the ensuing silence _Why does everything seem so different now than when I first met him?_

Luka looked down at her hands. They looked the same as always; plain and ordinary, just another pair of hands in the world. But even though she looked the same, she could tell that something was different.

_Maybe it's not something on the outside…but on the inside…?_ Luka thought to herself as she raised her hand to her chest. Her heartbeat was dull within her chest, just like it always was. Nothing had changed there.

Nothing had changed anywhere.

But something was different.

_What is dif-_

"Fine."

Luka's thoughts were abruptly cut off by the sound of a voice. It was so sudden and unexpected that at first she had no idea where it had come from. She foolishly looked to the ceiling as if she expected that to be the source of the voice.

Then she realized.

Len was the one who had spoken.

She turned around slowly, afraid that if she turned around to quickly it would somehow undo the answer she had just heard from Len. The young boy now stood and he had taken a few steps closer to Luka. All Luka could do was stare at him.

"If you want to dance you can't just stand there and stare at me," Len said with annoyance in his voice.

"But…what do I do?" Luka asked.

"First, we have to be…really close together…so…uh…just come over here!" Len said with a raised voice that caused Luka to flinch. She looked at him slightly worried about what was going to come next.

"Sorry…" Len apologized quickly as he lowered his voice, "I'm going to have to keep in mind that you have no idea what dancing is."

"So…first we get close?" Luka asked as she closed the short distance that separated the two of them. Up close, she was slightly taller than Len to the point that he had to look up slightly to meet her eyes. She stared at him and waited for his next instruction.

"Right, now you place your hand here," Len said as he gently took Luka's wrist and positioned her hand on his shoulder before he placed his hand on the small of her back and pulled her even closer. Luka flinched slightly from the touch, afraid that he might shake her again.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to shake you," Len responded with a tone that said he was annoyed that she would even think that he was going to hurt her.

Luka gave a small nod of her head and felt her body relax the tiniest bit. She then looked at Len confused as he took her hand in his own. The two of them stood frozen in this position.

"This is…dancing?" Luka asked with even more confusion.

"Not yet," Len said more harshly than need be, "I'm trying to remember that melody you sang earlier."

"You mean the lullaby my mommy sang to me?"

"Your mom sang that for you?"

"Only once," Luka admitted as the two of them remained locked in position, "She told me that her good friend taught it to her before she had to go far away."

Len gave a deep sigh as his eyes narrowed. "Dammit, why don't you just give me more evidence that my parents were involved in this twisted project," Len muttered darkly to himself.

"Len?" Luka asked as she attempted to meet the boy's eyes. It was difficult in the current position she was in, but she didn't want to move in fear that if she moved from the "dancing position" Len would change his mind about dancing with her.

"Sorry, just thinking about crap I shouldn't think about," Len responded as he once more turned to Luka. She watched as his face flushed red for a moment as he realized the position he was currently in.

"How do we start dancing?"

"Well, the first thing I want you to do is start humming the melody from before."

Luka gave a nod of her head and called upon the warm memory of her mother humming the lullaby to her that her six-year old self held so dear. The notes flowed easy from her throat and seemed to lift the darkness of the empty room just the tiniest bit.

"1, 2, 3; 1, 2, 3," Len muttered to himself as he stared at his feet and slowly got on beat with the melody Luka was humming. After a few moments he gave a decisive nod of his head, "Alright, now what I want you to do is follow my lead."

Luka gave a nod of her head, careful not to interrupt the stream of notes that issued from her throat. Before she realized it, Len moved his foot. Luka didn't have proper time to react as she felt her footing fall from underneath her and she fell to the ground. She heard Len fall to the ground next to her with a soft plop.

"We're damn graceful," Len said with a wry smile as he quickly stood up and offered his hand to Luka, "Come on, let's try this again."

Luka nodded and took his hand. The two of them got into position once more and Luka began humming the lullaby. This time when Len moved his foot, she knew what was coming and she moved with him. The movement felt awkward and stiff as Len paused for another moment before he moved his other foot and Luka barely managed to move her foot before Len was taking another step. The two of them stumbled once more and Len gave a low growl of frustration.

"I'm so-" Luka's apology was cut off from a sharp look from Len, "Maybe we should stop."

"No way, we started this, so now we're going to finish this stupid thing," Len said as he once more took his hand. This time instead of counting, he began to hum the melody that Luka had been humming. She felt him start moving and she fell into step with him.

Before she realized it, she was humming along with Len.

The two of them continued to sway around the floor. It was by no means graceful, but the two of them managed to stay in step as they continued to hum together. Luka lost all sense of time as the two of them moved with an odd combination awkwardness and gracelessness across the black floor that had once contained the universe. Their voices spun together and met in the air where they hung together and seemed to fill the world with life. For reasons she couldn't explain, she wanted desperately for Len to look up and meet her eyes, but he was busy concentrating on his feet as the two of them continued to move along.

Just as quickly as the moment had begun, it ended.

The last notes of the song died away and the pair stopped their dance. Luka could tell that her face was slightly flushed and her heart was beating quickly in her chest. She looked down at Len, who finally looked up and gave a small smile.

"So…there you go, dancing," Len said dismissively as a way of ending the dance, "Was it everything you thought it would be."

"It was…" Luka said in awe as she searched for the right words, "It was…wonderful."

And she meant it.

When she danced she felt like she was gliding through the air. It was like nothing she had ever experienced before. It made her feel light as a feather; it made her feel like a bird.

Her heart glowed in her chest as she smiled and felt the weight of the world fall of her shoulders. All the worries about escaping fell away as she reveled in the intoxicating effects of the dance that had just taken place. Her heart continued to pound in her chest.

She felt so free.

"I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it," Len mumbled quietly as he allowed the hand that was gripping Luka's to drop.

But although they were no longer in a position to dance, he didn't let go of her hand. Luka might have been imagining things, but he seemed to grip it tighter.

Luka opened her eyes and looked at Len. He was carefully avoiding her eyes still, but he hadn't moved either of his hands and they were so close Luka swore she could heart his heartbeat.

Or maybe that was just the sound of her own heart beating madly within her chest.

_…__being able to spend time with the one you love…_

_That was one of the things mommy told me would lead to freedom_ Luka thought as the phrase returned unbidden to her mind, _'Spend time with…the one you…love'?_

Her heart was beating like crazy in her chest.

Her palms were sweating from holding Len's hand for so long.

_The one you love…_

_You have someone else to live for…_

Another new voice added to the conversation. It sounded like the voice of a little girl; a small voice that was nudging her to say her question out loud.

"Len…do I love you?"

Her question issued, she watched as Len's eyes spread wide and he quickly released Luka's hand and backed away a few steps. Luka felt her heart fill with worry; had she said something to upset him?

"I'm-" She cut herself off earlier this time as she fell into silence. She didn't know what else to do but apologize in this situation.

"Y-you can't ask me if you love me," Len managed to stammer out after a moment more of silence, "T-That's not something I can answer."

"Then…do you love me?"

"Wh-What?"

"Do you love me?"

Silence fell in the room once more as Luka continued to stare at Len who refused to meet her eyes. He was muttering half-formed syllables as he kept clenching and unclenching his hands. Luka wanted to say something to make it alright; she wanted to do something so she could go back to the flighty feeling she had had when the two of them were dancing.

Instead, she felt dread rise in her throat; it was choking her. It felt as if however Len answered the question she had just posed would change her life forever. Her mind buzzed with activity, but she couldn't decide what answer she wanted to hear.

_You want him to say yes._

The young voice inside her spoke up once more and Luka couldn't explain it, but she instantly agreed with the voice.

She wanted Len to say yes; she wanted him to say that he loved her.

"I…" Len started as he looked up and met Luka's eyes.

Whatever words Len was going to follow with were lost as a slight rumble shook the room. The moment broken, both Luka and Len turned to look at the wall.

Where there had once been nothing but blackness now led to a corridor lit dimly with harsh yellow lights. Luka felt her breath catch in her throat as she looked down a corridor that had never been there before; a freedom that had never been available before. She turned to look at Len, the boy who had never been there before; a freedom that had never been available before.

The young boy's mouth was set in a grim line as he turned to look at Luka. All the nervousness and awkwardness of the moment before had melted away as his face displayed nothing but grim determination.

"We'll have time to talk later, let's get out of here…together," Len said as he held out his hand to her, "Hold my hand to make sure we don't get separated."

Luka gave an almost unnoticeable nod of her head before she took Len's hand. The two of them headed toward the tunnel, but Luka couldn't stop but pause and look at the room that had been her confinement for fourteen years. As she looked at it, she realized something.

She hated it.

Without a second look back, she headed into the tunnel with Len and the two of them began to pick up their pace as their footsteps echoed hollowly against the close walls. She kept her eyes firmly on Len's back, refusing to even consider looking back at her old life; she didn't need to.

She was escaping her confinement of freedom and heading towards reality.

* * *

The woman watched as the two of them exited the room. She felt her hopes rise slightly in her chest as the seconds ticked away. If all went according to plan, they would reach the end of the tunnel in a matter of minutes where she would be waiting for them to aid their escape.

Without a moment to lose, she turned around and headed out the door.

Then she felt her heart stop dead in her chest. She backed up a few paces before she felt her back bump against a wall; there was nowhere for her to escape. She knew that they were aware what was going on, but she thought she had a little more time. The several guns trained on her told her that her assessment was wrong.

"Didn't I warn you not to do anything stupid?" A cold voice asked as he took a few steps toward her. The woman's eyes settled on the man, someone who had once been her close friend, as she bit her lip out of nervous habit.

"It's not stupid, it's what's right," The woman answered in the most level voice she could manage.

"By doing what's 'right'," The man mocked as he drew ever closer to the woman, "You have forfeited your own life."

"So be it," The woman answered even though her fear was threatening to overwhelm her; she had prepared herself to accept her death if it was required, "Just kill me now and end this long drawn out charade."

"Oh, but that would be too easy, don't you think?" The man said as a twisted grin spread on his face, "Besides, who would be there to witness your glorious sacrifice? No, if you're to die it should be a…special…event."

The woman felt true fear in that moment. The last time she had felt fear this intense was the day she was forced to lock Luka away in her glass prison.

"You wouldn't…" She managed to mutter with her face as white as a sheet.

"Those two little lab rats should be reaching their rendezvous point soon; what better way is there for them to be welcomed back into the world than an…execution."

* * *

**A/N: **I've been waiting to write the dancing scene since I started this story. Also, we're getting close to the end. Stay tuned!**  
**


	13. Chapter 13

The two pairs of feet padded in unison on the solid floor as they ran through the dark hallway that was speckled with bursts of bright light. Luka's chest heaved with each breath she took as her throat burned and demanded relief. It had been so long since she had done any physical activity that the sudden bust of extreme movement was quickly taxing her weakened body. If it wasn't for Len's strong hand gripping hers and practically dragging her along, she knew she would have given up a long time ago.

As the two of them continued to run, she kept her eyes squarely on Len's back. She wasn't allowing her eyes to stray back to the place she was escaping from; a small voice in her head kept whispering the fear that if she looked back she would be pulled back into her previous life.

For now, she was clinging desperately to the thought of escape.

That and the possibility of Len answering her question.

_Do you love me?_

Whenever that question returned unbidden to her mind, she felt her heart race even faster than it already was in its overexerted state. She wanted so desperately to hear Len's answer.

Want; that was another emotion that Len had reintroduced to her. Luka couldn't stop a smile from tickling the corners of her mouth.

"I think we're almost there," Len mumbled in a low voice almost as if he was afraid of being discovered by vigilant eyes if he spoke too loud, "The darkness is getting a little bit lighter so we must be getting close…"

Rather than risk hope choking her words, she simply gave a nod of her head even though she knew Len couldn't see it. As the two of them continued to press on, Luka began to notice that the darkness was indeed lifting as Len had said. Then she saw something beautiful; a doorway that was framed with light.

She didn't think it was possible for her to run any faster, but with the goal of freedom finally in sight, she felt her feet move the slightest bit quicker. This was it; they were going to do it!

The two of them burst through the door of light and Luka had to shut her eyes in response to the sharp light that suddenly flooded in. As her eyes slowly adjusted, she tried her best to catch her breath and stop her heart from pounding within her chest.

What she saw in that moment pushed the pain in her chest to the furthest corner of her mind.

She saw two things; one she had expected and one she never wanted to see again. First she saw her mother. She looked relatively that same as the last time Luka had seen her; her muted pink hair was tied back in a tight bun and in sharp contrast with her radiant blue eyes.

The second thing she saw was the man; the man who had locked her away all those years ago. Luka began to shake violently as she stared at the man who returned her stare with a twisted smile placed comfortably on his face. She lost all rational thought as her memories and fears of her six year old life came back in a violent flood. He was going to throw her back into "freedom".

"NO!" Luka yelled as she ripped her hand from Len's grip and she attempted to run the opposite direction of the man in front of her. She didn't care where she was running as long as it was away from this man. A sharp and sudden tug on her wrist stopped her escape. She began to scream incoherently and struggle against the force that was trying to hold her back.

_I have to escape, escape, ESCAPE!_ Luka's mind repeated desperately as all coherent thought was consumed by this one word.

"Stop Luka! All you're going to do is get yourself killed! They have guns, can't you see that dammit! Just calm down!"

A voice tore through her cloud of terror and Luka felt herself begin to calm her struggle. The voice was like a blue sky. She turned slowly to find the one holding her wrist was Len. He was staring at her gravely as his fingers grasped her tightly to prevent her running into further danger. Luka looked at those sky blue eyes for a moment before she felt her strength go from her knees and she collapsed to the ground like a rag doll.

"Luka!" She heard Len yell instantly in response as he quickly lowered himself so he was on the same level as her. Luka wanted desperately to stand and tell him not to worry, but fear and exhaustion blunted both her mind and her ability to move.

"How touching…it seems that their play-acting at having feelings," A man's voice sneered. Luka's entire body shook violently in response to that voice.

"Shut the hell up!" Len retorted. Almost as if watching from far away, Luka observed Len placed himself in front of her and slightly obscure the demon of her past.

"Does the little boy plan on playing hero?" With every word he spoke, Luka felt terror stab into her mind as coherent thought left her.

"Shut up!" Len reiterated as he spread his hands as a better means of protecting Luka.

Luka watched as the man gave an almost unnoticeable nod of his head and one of the men that stood near her stepped forward in response.

_No! Len! I have to…to…_ Luka wanted desperately to finish the thought but her fear prevented her.

In a swift movement, the guard that had stepped forward smashed his gun into the side of Len's head which caused his body to go limp as his to force of the blow caused his body to skitter lightly across the floor before he came to a rest not far away. Luka watched him desperately praying for something to happen, but he didn't stand up. He didn't even move.

"Len!" Luka called as her fear was overridden by an emotion she couldn't name. Her legs somehow found strength once more as she painfully half-crawled toward where Len lay. The first thing she saw was red; so much red. It was spreading through his fair hair causing in to become matted and an odd copper color. An entirely different kind of fear trilled through Luka's body as she reached out a tentative hand to touch Len and make sure that he was alright.

A large hand clamped down on Luka's wrist and she yelped involuntarily in pain as she was hauled up from her kneeling position and dragged away from Len. It was happening again; she was four years old again and she was going to be locked away from the ones most important to her. Her eyes never left Len as she used what little energy was left to her to struggle against her captor's grip.

"Len, Len, Len!" She cried desperately as her vision began to blur with tears. She wanted the repetition of his name to wake him, but all that happened was she was pulled further away by the hands that gripped her.

"It seems that they're both play acting at feelings now."

Luka's body gave an involuntary shudder, but she kept her eyes firmly fixed on Len. She didn't care about anything else; she just wanted him to be alright.

"You really shouldn't be so concerned about 02-L; I believe there's the more pressing matter of your mother to be concerned with."

Luka's head snapped away from Len as her eyes settled once more on her mother. For the first time she realized that her mother's hands were bound behind her back and a guard flanked her on each side. The woman looked significantly less collected since the last time Luka had seen her and she leaned to one side slightly as if stepping on her left leg hurt.

"Mommy…" Luka whispered as she stared at her.

_Mommy is going to help us escape…why is the demon here?...mommy is going to help us escape…I hate him…won't go back to the room…_

"Mommy…why…why…" Luka said as she looked at her mother. She was supposed to help her; why was she with this man?

"Lu-" The woman's words were cut off by a grunt of pain as one of the men standing next to her gave her a swift strike to the rib cage. The woman slumped downward from the blow as the men that flanked her held her arms and forced her to remain erect. Luka felt her feet move forward against her will as her body innately wanted to protect the woman that had given her life. Her mother lifted her head and the look she gave Luka caused her to stop her struggle; her mother was crying as she seemed to apologize through her eyes.

"Now, you know I can't allow you to talk to 03," The man said with a calm air as he made his way to where Luka's mother stood, "You're here for one purpose and one purpose only."

Luka watched as her mother's eyes moved slowly away from her to look at the powerful man. Her expression was blank as she moved her mouth but no words formed. This display only caused the twisted smile on the man's face to spread further.

"Can't even find words to fight back, can you? That's fine with me."

The man lowered the device he held in his hand until it was level with the woman's chest. Luka felt her breath escape her as her eyes traced the shape of the object and she realized what it was.

The man was currently holding a gun to her mother's heart.

_BANG BANG_

Luka's mind instantly conjured the memory of the gunshots Len had fired and the phantom memory of the sounds rang in her ears. She remembered how those small bullets had managed to make a dent in her world that had opened her to the reality she was currently facing. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it would do to her mother if the man decided to use his gun.

"Mommy…" Luka whispered desperately as her eyes darted from her mother to the gun she was holding.

"I really must thank this woman ever so much for all the progress this project has made," The man's cold voice cut into Luka's thoughts, "Without her, this project would have been abandoned long ago."

"Mommy wouldn't…mommy wouldn't…." Luka disjointed mind managed to string together.

"You don't understand, do you? It's thanks to this woman's innovations that this project even started. It was her that first proposed the idea of using human for the Human Control Project."

"Control?" Luka echoed; the word tasted bitter in her mouth.

"Through the use of music, we can control the masses to do our bidding. Of course, a normal human voice isn't good enough. We need something that can reach frequencies that can't be heard by the human ears but can still be processed by the human brain. What better to use than a human voice? But this is where we ran into a problem; how can we imitate the human voice at such a frequency? Then Ms. Megurine had a wonderful idea, instead of imitating a human voice, let's use an actual human voice."

With each word the man spoke, Luka felt a bit of the warmth in her heart drain away. Her mother wasn't going to help her. Her mother had lied to her.

Len had lied to her.

"Not…true…not…" The words bubbled up from somewhere deep within Luka's subconscious before her mind had time to silence the futile hope.

"But it is true. It's thanks to your mother that this project exists and we shall be able to control the masses to our will. Everyone will free from the burden of having to make a decision. They'll just follow the plan we lay before them and live a happy, oblivious life," The man stated. After he said the word 'mother', Luka stopped listening to him and she couldn't help but feel a shudder run through her. The man continued on, "It's thanks to your mother that you were placed in that room for so many long years. You should thank her; you've become a valuable piece of history instead of the nameless street rat you would have become. Although…I suppose your mother should also thank you."

"Thank…me…?" The words sounded odd and harsh in the still air. Luka hated it.

"Correct. It's thanks to her love for you that your mother will die."

Luka snapped her head up just in time to hear the sound.

BANG

There was red. So much red.

BANG

Why was there more red? Why were her mother's eyes blank as she looked at her? Why was the red coming from her? What had happened?

Luka felt her eyes travel down to look at herself. She was covered in red; two different types of red.

One red that came from her mother.

One red that came from Len.

It was on her hands; it was on her clothes; it was everywhere.

A scream issued forth from somewhere. There we no words in the scream. It was so desperate; a broken bird giving its last desperate call for freedom as it fought against the futility of its crippled wings. Luka's mind registered the scream but it came from another word, another person.

The red; so much red.

Then the world went dark.

* * *

Len's head pounded as he gradually opened his eyes. A sound was rending the air that called for Len's attention. He opened his eyes painfully as the sound prematurely cut off. The first thing he saw was a flash of pink as something fell to the ground with a heavy thud. It took a few seconds for Len's mind to process the information that his eyes were supplying.

There was blood everywhere. He was lying in a small pool that was already beginning to dry and the wall was splattered with a red spray that radiated out from one point. What appeared to be pieces of what was once a human clung in the blood as two men released something that fell to the floor with a thud similar to the first thud that had sounded the moment before.

If felt as if a drum was beating loudly in his head as Len's stomach fought the reflex to gag at the smell that dominated the hall. His senses slowly returned to him as he continued to lie on the ground staring at the horrific scene that greeted him.

He looked back at the crumpled form on the floor and he felt his heart go dead in his chest.

It was Luka.

She was covered in blood.

All thoughts fled Len's head as a sudden adrenaline rush spiked his system and made him forget the pain and push himself off the floor. His vision spun as he ran as quickly as he could toward Luka's crumpled form. He took her in his arms and cradled her as he looked for the source of blood. From what he could tell, she hadn't been injured anywhere.

But despite there not being any obvious physical wounds, the girl's breathing was shallow and irregular. He face was drawn and pale as the only indicator that she lived, the rise and fall of her chest, continued unsteadily on.

"Luka! Luka!" Len called as he continued to cradle her gently. The girl remained unchanged by Len's voice calling out to her.

"Separate the two of them!"

A voice broke into Len's world as he looked up from Luka and once more realized the situation he was in. He only had a few seconds to reprocess this information before gruff hands grabbed him from behind.

"Bastard! What the hell did you do! Let me the fuck go!" Len spat angrily as he struggled with the two men that restrained him. As he continued to grapple with his captors, the pain of his earlier blow rushed back and his movements began to grow more and more tame. The men on either side of him held on fast with hands like iron grips.

"I wouldn't push your luck 02-L," A man who was the apparent leader of this group stated as he stepped towards Len, "I've already killed on today; don't think I won't hesitate to kill another."

Len felt his eyes wander the room and he felt them go wide as they settled on another figure on the floor besides Luka. He instantly recognized the now lifeless body of Luka's mother. Her eyes were blank, but Len could tell that she had been looking at Luka the moment she died. Her mouth was open in a half-formed word that would never be completed. As Len looked at the horrifying scene, he realized something.

They had made Luka watch her mother's murder.

"You sick bastard!" Len yelled with as much fire as he could muster through the pounding in his head, "You fucking bastard!"

Len felt the distinctive feeling of cold steel of a gun pressed to his forehead as the man shoved his face in his own. His eyes were dead as he held Len's gaze.

"I just said don't push your luck. Just because you're a child won't save you; I've killed my own children with these hands."

Len scowled and spit in the man's face with as much force as he could muster. He was rewarded by the man jerking his head backwards and giving a small yell of frustration. The victory was short lived as Len felt himself hit upside the head once more. The pounding in his head increased.

"You won't kill me," Len managed to spit out with a twisted smile, "This is your sick little pet project. You won't allow all your years of work to go to waste by killing me."

Len braced himself for another blow, but was instead greeted with a low laugh from the man with the gun.

"You're absolutely right," The man said as he controlled his laughter, "I won't kill you; I'll just finish the project that should have been finished years ago. Take these two to their separate rooms!"

Len felt himself being dragged away and he watched as Luka was lifted off the floor. One of the guards holding her up slapped her across the face.

"Come on you little bitch," He hissed at her, "I'm not carrying you all the way to your room."

"You fucking bastard!" Len yelled at the man as his furry brought about a renewed struggle. He was silence by a soft sound that seemed louder than every single curse he had shouted at the men.

She took one step. Then another. Then another.

Len watched in horrified fascination as Luka began to take slow steps under her own will. She never once raised her eyes from the ground as she made her slow and deliberate journey. Silence fell in the room as every eye follow the girl's movement.

She only stopped when she reached where her mother lay.

And she stood and waited.

Waited for something to happen.

"Move the body out of the way," the leader commanded. A few of the men standing around looked concernedly at one another, but eventually two of them complied and quickly moved the body that lay obstructing the girl's way. She made no movement as they cleared the body away. She just stood there waiting.

Then she started to walk again.

"What are you doing? Luka! It's me! It's Len! I…I have to answer your question from earlier!" Len yelled desperately as the girl continued her slow and mechanical walk.

His words did not slow her.

03 didn't look back.

"It seems that at least one of them understands what it's programmed to do. Take the other one to its room," The leader ordered.

"Luka! Luka!" Len called desperately as the men began to drag him away. His voice had no effect on her as she continued to walk the opposite direction Len was being dragged in. She was now flanked on both sides by guards but it was her own footsteps that guided her.

03 was moving by her own will.

Len lost all sense of time as he continued to call out to a girl that had been lost. He knew it was futile, but he called out to the memory of her and hoped desperately that she would respond. He wanted to hear her stupid voice when she asked questions about everything. He wanted to look at those eyes that had slowly become less empty. He wanted to see that smile that was the most beautiful thing in the world.

He wanted Luka.

The next thing he realized, Len was thrown into room that was pitch black. He was dully aware of his head banging against the ground and the sound of a door closing.

He crawled his way towards the wall and began to bang his fists with all the energy he had left. He knew it was futile but he had to give any sort of resistance he could; it allowed him a bitter comfort that at least he wasn't going down quietly.

He felt his knuckles grow hot with blood as he continued his relentless pounding. His eyes ran with tears, but what he was crying for he wasn't quite sure. Was it for the pain that was coursing through his system and telling him to give up? Was it for the freedom that was now lost to him forever? Was it for the life that he had foolishly thrown away?

No.

It was for her.

For Luka.

"Dammit Luka," He said to a girl he knew to be dead, "You didn't let me answer you damn question."

_"Do you love me?"_

"Why the hell couldn't I have just rushed into answering you like I do with everything else?" Len asked to the memory of her as his voice caught in his throat and broke, "Why the hell do I have to be such a damn screw up."

The darkness was slowly eating away at the edges of Len's vision as his hands slid off the wall and his body collapsed unbidden to the ground. He stared for a moment as he felt everything drain away from him; he didn't even have the energy to be sad any more as the tears on his face began to dry.

"I love you, you know…I…love you…Luka…"

Then the world went dark.

* * *

**A/N:** Next chapter is the last one. Stick around to see the conclusion.


	14. Chapter Final

**A/N:** Note at the beginning this time so to not disturb the end. So, this is it guys. I want to thank everyone that has taken the time to read this story and I hope sincerely that you enjoyed it. If nothing else, it was fun for me to write. I would also like to profusely thank all the people that have taken the time to review this story; every time I read one of your reviews it made me smile.

In conclusion, thank you for everything and I hope you enjoy and will continue to enjoy my future works.

* * *

It was dark.

It was always dark.

The only time the light came was when people would visit.

Then the light would burn. It would want to run and hide back in the dark; dark was safe. But it had been programmed better than that. Each time it would dutifully follow them out the door and walk to the room with the large machine. It would sit on a chair and millions of wires would be attached to it.

Attached to its brain; its throat.

Its heart.

The sounds and word would come in a rush and it would sing. It would sing perfectly every time. It would sing the notes to suppress the people; the notes to free the people.

Sometimes there were others like it. The first one it met had short blonde hair, second had long teal hair, third's hair was short and brown, and fourth's hair was blue. They would be set side by side and they would sing together; perfect harmony every time. They would sing the notes to suppress that people; the notes to free the people.

Once it was done singing, it would return to the dark room. It would remain there until it was to be used once more. It didn't know how long this had gone on for, but it was all that it could remember.

Darkness; light; machine; light; darkness.

A perpetual cycle that never faltered.

So when light suddenly flooded the room, it knew what was going to happen. The cycle would start once more. A young woman scuttled in with clipboard in hand and began to fuss about it as she did the necessary preparations. It knew all the people that came to visit it.

"Good morning to you 02-L," The woman greeted it cheerfully, "Are you ready to go sing?"

This girl liked to talk to it. She was always cheery and bright, her voice lilting with each question she would ask it. She would even pause and wait for it to respond.

It never did.

"Today's a special day for you," She chattered on, "You get to sing with a new person today. Doesn't that make you excited?"

Silence.

"Well looks like you have a clean bill of health," She announced cheerily, "Congratulations to you…Len."

She also would sometimes call it by a name.

It didn't have a name.

It was 02-L.

The girl gave an exasperated sigh, "You never will respond to me will you? I know we're not supposed to talk to you guys but I can't imagine how lonesome it must get living in the dark by yourself. Don't you ever want to go out into the light?"

No. The dark was safe; the light hurt its eyes and reminded it of things.

It didn't say anything.

"Alright, let's get you to the room," The girl said as she began to head towards the doorway of light. It dutifully followed.

It never looked around the hallways; eyes always straight ahead. Looking at the white walls hurt its eyes even more. It was safest and least painful to stare straight ahead.

The door opened and it was greeted once more with the machine. This time it's the machine with two chairs hooked up with millions of wires. The wall is covered with the mechanical devices that control the intricate workings of the machine that will use its voice.

It sits down in one of the chairs and the girl begins attaching the wires. It has gone through this all before. The cold tip of the wires on its skin has become something that it has gotten used to over time.

In no time, the girl finishes her work and stands back to smile. She reaches out and ruffles its hair before she heads off to a computer monitor not far off. It can hear the sound of her typing commands in the panel.

"Now where in the world are they," The girl comments as she turns to look at the door, "They should be here by now. Oh well, let's get started without them, shall we?"

She clicks another key and its body reflexively stiffens. Its mind is flooded with words and notes its never seen before. Its head always feels feverish when this happens; it has never gotten used to it. The words of the song consume its vision and force everything else from its mind. The flood continues to crash down on it and it feels the needs to spew out the words to get the foreign information that isn't its out of its brain. At the end of the stream of data, he is provided with the title of the song.

Free.

The torrent is shut off with another click of the panel.

"Didn't I tell you to wait for me before you started this?"

"Yes Ma'am…"

"You shall be punished for this later! But for now, just come help me hook the other one up to the machine."

There is movement but it doesn't look. It stares straight ahead as they hook the other product up to the machine.

"So…is this one newly made?"

"No, it's an older model but due to an…incident…it was badly damaged and has been unusable up to this point."

"Uhm…what's the name of this one?"

"Don't ask pointless questions! Simply help me connect it and then stay out of my way."

It watches as the woman who has been yelling passes in front of its vision and heads towards where it knows the panel is.

"Well if she doesn't want to tell me I'll just find out for myself…" The girl who is left continues to talk to her, "So what's your name 03."

03.

It knows that number.

"Let's just move your hair out of the way here so I can see your headphones…gosh you have beautiful hair…anyways, let's see…L-U-K-A."

L-U-K-A.

It knows those letters.

"Luka?" The girl asks warmly, "Is your name Luka?"

Luka.

It knows that name.

"Quit dawdling and come help me!"

"Sorry sorry!"

The girl passes in front of its vision and for the first time, it turns to look at who sits next to it.

It's an older girl. She has long pink hair that falls down her back and large blue eyes that stare straight ahead.

It knows those eyes.

_He_ knows those eyes.

The flood of notes and words comes back in full force and it wants to spit the words out. Instead, the girl starts singing.

It knows that voice.

_He_ knows that voice.

When it is time for it so sing, it starts the same as always; spewing the notes out as quickly as possible so that its head isn't invaded by the foreign information. But this time something goes wrong.

It hits a sour note.

The stream of information is cut off prematurely and the voice of the girl dies in the room. There is nothing but silence.

"What…what just happened?"

"I'm going to get the director. You stay here and watch them; you can handle that, right?"

"Y-Yeah…" The voice that is always so cheery and sunny is suddenly unsure.

But it isn't listening.

It's looking at her.

_He's_ looking at her.

There was something important he had to tell her; something that if he didn't tell her he would regret it for the rest of his life. But after so long of having his own memories and thoughts pushed away by the short term memories of the songs he's supposed to sing, he's forgotten what he wants to tell her.

It's important he knows that.

Then he sees her hand.

It's resting relatively close to his. He reaches out his hand. It doesn't understand why it does that, but he does. Her flesh is warm underneath his and he can feel a faint pule running through her body.

"Lu…ka…"

He speaks for the first time since he became an it. The feeling of speaking is foreign to its tongue but he enjoys the feeling of not having to sing the words others feed him. What he has just said is purely his own thoughts, not something thought up by the government; not something forced onto him by a computer.

He waits for her response.

It never comes.

She stares straight ahead waiting for her next instruction. There is not room left in her – in its – head for anything but what the machine tells it to say. It doesn't have to worry about living up to expectations or being heartbroken or being unable to reach its goals.

It doesn't have any human concerns.

It was free.

And she was gone.

- END -


End file.
